Chapter Text
Steve Harrington was a lot of things. King. Friend. Boyfriend. Brother. Lover. But, most of all he was a fierce protector of those he cared about. He dedicated his life to protecting the people he loved, even if it killed him. It was his job. It was a self-appointed job, but it was important to him.
Steve loved harder than anyone else. He loved his people with everything he had. He just never got around to loving himself. He never got around to protecting himself. It wasn’t as important to him. He wasn’t as important to himself as other people were to him. He had his people, and that was all he cared about.
There was Robin, his best friend, the most important person in his world. She was his first real friend, the first person to treat him with both compassion and reality. She was his world.
There was Dustin, his little best friend. He never expected some little twerp to take up such a big part in his life, but he wasn’t complaining. He would die for Dustin, along with Lucas and all those other little idiots.
Then there was Max, who was on a whole other level than all the other kids. She was Steve’s little sister in every sense other than blood. They were family, and she was pretty much the only family Steve had or even wanted.
There was Nancy and Mike, the most unlikely of them all. His ex-girlfriend and her little brother. They were connected to two more unlikely people: Will and El, the brother of his high school rival and their superhuman step-sister. Despite how strange it was, there were Steve’s people. He loved them more than anything.
He loved them all more than anything, but there was still one person who Steve loved the most. The love of his life. But, Steve wasn’t allowed to love this person because he didn’t think he should. Because he never learned to love himself.
The first morning after the road trip was unpleasant for everyone. Sure, they got to sleep in real beds for the first time in eleven days, but they would’ve taken the ground with their friends any day.
Steve woke up on an unfamiliar couch. There was a creek in his neck and an ache in his heart. He rolled off the couch as he realized where he was: Max’s trailer. He quickly wrote her a note saying he had to get to work. He ran out of the trailer as fast as he could.
He got into the camper and didn’t dare look at any of the other trailers. He didn’t dare look at the van parked next to one trailer in particular. He didn’t dare look in the window that he knew belonged to someone. He didn’t dare.
Across town, Nancy Wheeler woke up for the first time in several days without two arms wrapped around her. She couldn’t help but feel cold. She turned her face to see El sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed. She quietly got up, put on her robe, and began walking downstairs.
“Morning, honey,” her mom greeted as she made breakfast. “How was your trip?”
“It was good,” Nancy replied, yawning. “Really good.”
“You have mail,” her dad said, not looking up from the paper. Nancy furrowed her eyebrows. She had no idea what it could be. She walked over to the hunch where they kept the mail, picking up a letter addressed to her. It was from Columbia University.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, ripping it open. “Holy fucking shit.”
“Nancy! Language!” Karen yelled from the stove, but Nancy didn’t care.
“I got off the waitlist!” Nancy squealed.
“What?”
“At Columbia. I got off the waitlist! I’m going to Columbia! I’m going to New York!”
Her dad finally put the newspaper down. “That’s great, honey. We didn’t even know you applied there.”
“I was only going to tell you if I got in. It was a shot in the dark,” Nancy explained. “I have to go. I have to go tell Ro–Steve. I have to go tell Steve.”
“Honey, you’re still in your pajamas,” Karen reminded her. “Steve can wait.”
Sure, Steve could wait, but Robin couldn’t. “I’ll be back in a flash. I just need to tell him. Right now.” Nancy ran to the door and ripped it open. She wasn’t expecting to find someone on the other side about to knock.
“Oh, sorry, kid,” the person said. Nancy looked up to find Jim Hopper standing in front of her. Behind him was Joyce Byers and even farther behind her was Jonathan. “We’re looking for our kids.”
Maybe Robin could wait.
…
“Mike!” Nancy yelled, opening his door. Will and Mike sprang apart in the bed. “Get your asses out of bed right now.”
“Why?” Mike asked, running a hand over his face. “It’s so early.”
“Trust me. You’re gonna wanna see this,” Nancy promised. She couldn’t help but grin at Will. “You too. Up now. Kitchen.”
Nancy quickly left Mike’s room and headed back to hers. El was still asleep. Nancy nudged her gently. “El, hon, you gotta wake up. There’s someone here to see you.”
“Nancy?” El asked groggily. “What’s going on?”
“Just come with me,” Nancy said, pulling El out of bed and down the stairs. Will and Mike had already made it down and were staring in disbelief.
“What’s going on?” El asked again. She looked around the room. She saw people moving for someone to get through.
“Hey, kiddo,” a familiar voice said, moving through the crowd. Hopper was standing right in front of her. Her dad was standing right in front of her.
“Dad!” she yelled, jumping into his arms. She held onto him with everything she had in her, and he held her right back. “I don’t understand. How? You were gone.”
“It’s a long story,” he whispered into her hair. “I’ll tell you all about it if you tell me what I missed.”
“Deal.”
…
El and Hopper went outside to catch up while the rest of the Byers and Wheelers talked over breakfast. Nancy was trying her hardest to get out of there and go see Robin, but she could tell from the way that Jonathan was looking at her that he wanted to talk.
“Jonathan, can I talk to you for a second? Upstairs?” Nancy asked, already heading toward the stairs. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Jonathan quickly followed her.
“Nancy–”
“I’m seeing someone,” Nancy blurted out as soon as they got to her room. Jonathan was taken aback.
“Oh.”
“That’s not all,” Nancy said with a laugh. “The person is a girl. It’s Robin Buckley.”
“I thought she was dating Steve.”
Nancy chuckled. “Not quite.”
“Nance, I didn’t know you were–”
“I didn’t either. Not until Robin,” Nancy explained. “Look, I know this is a lot.”
“No! No, it’s all good,” Jonathan assured her. “I wanted to talk to make sure you were okay after everything with us, and you clearly are, so that’s fine by me.”
“We’re better off this way.”
Jonathan nodded. “We are.”
“What are your plans now?”
“NYU.”
Nancy smiled. “I just got off the waitlist at Columbia.”
“That’s great, Nance! I knew you could do it,” Jonathan gushed. “Maybe we’ll see each other in the city.”
“Maybe,” Nancy replied, not really caring either way. There was only one person she cared about right now. “Robin wants to go to New York too. She’s a musician. That’s the dream.”
“I’m sure she’s excited then.”
“I actually haven’t told her yet,” Nancy informed him. “I was on my way there when I ran into you.”
“What are you still doing here?” Jonathan asked, opening the bedroom door. “Go tell her.”
“Yeah?” Nancy asked, smiling. Jonathan just opened the door farther. Nancy began to step through it when Jonathan caught her hand.
“I’m happy for you,” he said sincerely. “About everything.”
Nancy smiled. “Thanks, Jonathan. Maybe I’ll run into you when school starts.”
“Bye, Nancy.”
“Bye, Jonathan.”
With that, Nancy was running out of the house, for real this time. She ran past Hopper and El talking on the front porch.
“So, California was a bust?” Hopper asked sadly.
El nodded. “But, Will, Jonathan, and Joyce were great. They took care of me.”
“That’s good,” Hopper said, smiling. “I knew they would.”
“Are you going to marry Joyce?”
Hopper turned bright red. “Excuse me, I’m the father. I’m supposed to ask the relationship questions here. How’s Mike?”
Now, it was El’s turn to turn red. “We broke up.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“I broke up with him.”
Hopper held his hand up for a high five. “That’s my girl.” El glared at him, and he put his hand down. The glare quickly turned sad. “Hey, what just happened to your face?”
“I have to tell you something else, and I don’t know how you’ll react,” El confessed. Hopper grabbed her hand, threading his thumb through her bracelet and stroking her hand.
“You can tell me anything, honey. Anything. I’ll always be here.”
El nodded. “I’m dating someone else.”
“Okay, who is he? Is he from California?”
El shook her head.
“He’s from Hawkins?”
El shook her head again.
“Where’s he from then?”
“It’s not a he,” El whispered. Hopper let out a breath.
“Oh.”
“It’s Max,” El told him. “You remember Max?”
“Of course. She’s your best friend.”
“She’s my girlfriend now.”
Hopper nodded. “Okay. Okay. That’s alright.”
“You don’t hate me? You’re not one of those people who hates gay people?”
Hopper sighed sadly and wrapped an arm around El’s shoulders. “I could never hate you for loving someone. You’re my daughter. I’m always going to love you no matter what. I might not understand, but I’ll always love you.”
“I didn’t understand either at first, but my friends explained some things to me,” El told him. “They said that talking about it makes it easier.”
“And, you’ll talk to me about it?”
El nodded. “Of course. You’re my dad.”
“That I am,” he said, kissing her hair.
“Are we staying here now that you’re back?”
“Do you want to stay here?”
“More than anything.”
Hopper smiled. “Then, Joyce and I can make that work for us. I’m sure Will wants to stay too.”
“I have to tell Max,” El announced, hopping up. “I’ll go call her.”
“Or I can bring you to her house,” Hopper offered to a stunned El. He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll take you. Get in the car.” El ran over to the passenger side door. “You know the best part of all of this?”
“What?”
“I don’t have to deal with that Mike Wheeler anymore,” Hopper joked. El laughed and laughed. “It wasn’t that funny.” El kept laughing. “What?” She laughed again. “What? El Hopper, you tell me right now.”
“You’ll see.”
Inside the house, Will and Mike were awkwardly eating breakfast with their families. They both had the same question, but they were both too scared to ask it.
“So, Joyce, when are you heading back to California?” Karen asked.
Joyce looked at her son with a smile. “I’m not sure we are going back.”
“Really?” Will asked, grinning.
“I’ll have to talk to Hop, but I think we’re staying in Hawkins for good.”
Will couldn’t stop grinning. “That’s the best news ever.”
“That is great news,” Karen told them. “I know our Michael will be happy to have you back.”
Mike touched Will’s foot under the table, matching his grin. “You have no idea.”
…
Speeding wasn’t necessarily Nancy’s forte. She was a law abiding citizen. But, she couldn't care less about the law that day. All she wanted to do was see Robin as fast as possible. She wasn’t even sure if she shut the car off after parking and before running to Robin’s front door. She banged and banged and banged on the door when she noticed that Robin’s parents weren’t home. It was just her girl in there.
“Jesus Christ.” Nancy heard on the other side of the door. She grinned as a very sleepy Robin opened the door. Her eyes were still closed. “What?”
Nancy shook her head before leaning forward to kiss Robin. Robin jumped at the contact, causing Nancy to laugh.
“Baby? What are you doing here?” she asked, pulling Nancy into the house and kissing her fiercely.
Nancy pulled away. “I have to tell you something.”
“Go ahead,” Robin said, kissing her neck.
Nancy relished in the feeling. “I got into Columbia University. In New York.”
“New York?” Robin asked, pulling away. “You’re going to New York.”
“ We’re going to New York,” Nancy clarified.
Robin grinned, picking Nancy up and spinning her around in her arms. “We’re going to New York!”
“Oh, hey, I have more news. Better news.”
Robin put her down. “I don’t see how anything could be better than that.”
Nancy laughed. “You’d be surprised.”
…
“Okay,” Hopper said as he parked in front of Max’s trailer, “I want you to go in there, explain the situation to Max, and then invite her to breakfast with us.”
“Why?”
“I want to get to know her,” Hopper explained.
El scoffed. “You know her.”
Hopper shook his head. “I know your friend Max. I don’t know your girlfriend Max.”
“Okay,” El replied, opening the door. “We’ll be back in a minute.”
El nervously walked up to the trailer and knocked on the door. She had never been here before. She had to ask Mike for the address before they left. A moment later, Max opened the door in her pajamas.
“El? What’s going on?” Max asked. El pushed her inside before Max could see Hopper in the car. “What the fuck?”
“So, something crazy happened,” El began. Max listened and listened and listened.
“Holy fucking shit,” she muttered. “So, your dad’s out there? Alive? And he wants to take us for breakfast?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. My. God.”
El laughed. “I know.”
“Babe,” Max cooed, hugging El to her. “I’m so happy for you. You got your dad back.”
“I’m so happy,” El whispered into Max’s shoulder. Max pushed her away with a smile.
“Go meet him out there. I have to get dressed. I’ll be like ten minutes,” Max informed, practically pushing El out the door. Several minutes later, Max emerged from the door and got into the car. “Hi, Mr. Hopper, sir.”
Hopper smiled, looking at Max through the rearview mirror. “Hi, Max. You know you can just call me Hopper.”
“Right, sorry,” Max muttered.
“I like her already,” Hopper whispered to El in the passenger seat. He clapped his hands together. “So, breakfast?”
…
After breakfast, Will and Mike got ready for the day, quickly making excuses to their mothers about having to be at Lucas’s house for a party thing. Joyce and Karen both agreed to let them go. The second they were out the door, they began rejoicing.
“You’re staying!” Mike exclaimed.
“I’m staying!” Will repeated.
“No long distance.”
“No long distance,” Will agreed.
“I get to see you everyday,” Mike whispered dreamily. “And touch you. And kiss you. And–”
Will laughed. “Every day.”
“We have to go tell the guys,” Mike said, grabbing his bike. “You wanna ride on the back?”
“I would be delighted,” Will joked, hopping on. Mike very carefully rode them to Lucas’s house. They wasted no time with the door and just climbed in through Lucas’s bedroom window.
“What the fuck?” Lucas asked when Will landed on the floor. He was sitting on his bed like he had just woken up. Mike quickly landed behind Will. “Again, what the fuck?”
“Hopper is alive,” Will breathed.
“And, Will and El are moving back,” Mike continued.
Lucas nodded. “I’m gonna ask one more time…”
They called Dustin before explaining the situation to Lucas so they would only have to tell the story once. Dusin and Lucas both happily listened.
“So, he’s okay? And you’re really staying?” Dustin asked.
Will grinned, looking at Mike. “Yeah.”
Dustin rushed forward and hugged them both. “This is the best day ever.”
“Did you tell Max yet?” Lucas asked.
Will nodded. “She’s with El and Hopper right now. El came out to him.”
“Again,” Dustin said, “best day ever.”
“Oh, and Nancy is going to Columbia, so she’ll be in New York with Robin,” Mike stated.
“Again–”
“Dustin, I swear to God,” Lucas warned. Dustin nodded in surrender. “I get it, though. Everyone is happy. This is great.”
“Well,” Dustin muttered. “Not everyone.”
“What?” Will asked.
Dustin sighed. “He told me not to tell anyone, but Steve broke up with Eddie.”
“What?” Mike gasped. “No, that's impossible.”
“Why would he do that?” Lucas asked.
“He’s trying to protect Eddie from the Upside Down,” Dustin explained. “I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Well, we need to do something,” Mike stated. “Everyone else is happy because of him. We can’t let him not get his happy ending.”
“I agree,” Will said.
Lucas nodded. “Me too.”
“Okay,” Dustin said, pulling out his walkie talkie. “I’ll call in the troops.”
…
Roughly an hour later, after Hopper had dropped the girls off and Nancy and Robin pulled up, everyone was sitting in Lucas’s bedroom.
“Why are we meeting here? I thought the normal hangout was our house?” Nancy asked, stepping into the room.
“Well, I can’t kiss Will at home, so I brought him here,” Mike explained.
“And, why are we here?” Max asked.
“We are gathered here today because we owe our lives to one person and one person only,” Dustin explained. “Steve Harrington.”
“Okay,” Robin said. “And?”
“Steve is the reason that all of us are happy,” Will explained. “He’s the reason we all got together. He’s the reason why we all had the best summer ever.”
“And, right now, he’s not happy,” Lucas told them. “He’s heartbroken.”
“How’d you know?” Max asked.
“Steve told me he was going to break up with Eddie,” Dustin replied. “How’d you know?”
“He showed up at my house sobbing last night right after he broke up with Eddie,” Max explained. “He slept over, but he left this morning before I woke up. He wrote a note saying he had to go to work.”
“He lied,” Robin told them. “He doesn’t have work today. We told our boss we wouldn’t be back until next week to give us more vacation time.”
“So, where is he then?” Nancy asked.
“He’s probably at home crying and eating ice cream,” Dustin stated, “which is why we need to fix this.”
“And, how exactly do we do that?” Max asked.
“I have an idea,” Dustin began. “It goes against everything Steve asked me to do, but I think we should do it. It’s for Steve. We have to.”
Max nodded. “For Steve.”
“For Steve,” the boys said together.
“For Steve,” Nancy and El echoed.
Dustin looked at Robin expectantly. “Come on, Buckley. We need you. You’re his best friend.”
She thought for a moment before nodding. “For Steve.”
…
After the plan was explained in great detail, everyone crammed into Nancy’s car. Dustin and Robin were dropped off at Steve’s house while everyone else headed to Eddie’s. Max got out of the car first and walked up to his door, knocking loudly.
“Jesus, what?” Eddie asked when he opened the door. He looked like shit. “Oh, Max, what’s up?”
“You said you were just a door away,” Max recalled. Eddie nodded. “Well, I need you now. We all do.”
Max pointed to everyone standing outside Nancy’s car. “What is this?” Eddie asked.
“We need to talk to you,” Max stated. “Inside. Top secret business.”
Eddie begrudgingly let everyone into the trailer. Mike and Lucas sat on the floor as Nancy and Will sat on the couch and El and Max paced around the living room.
“You guys can sit,” Eddie told them.
“She can’t, and I want to be there for moral support,” Max explained.
“Okay?”
“You should probably sit down though,” Mike said, pulling Eddie to the floor with him.
“Yeah, trust us,” Lucas agreed.
“We know that Steve told you that he couldn’t tell you what was going on in Hawkins,” Nancy stated. “And we respect that.”
“So, we’re not going to tell you,” Max explained. “We’re going to show you.”
“What you’re going to see isn’t the whole story,” Lucas told him. “But, it’s a good start.”
“Steve will tell you the rest in his own words,” Mike said. “On his own terms.”
“You guys are scaring me,” Eddie said.
Will’s lips formed a straight line. “It’s best to keep an open and unafraid mind right now.”
“El, why don’t you go ahead?” Nancy suggested.
“Eddie, you like me, right?” El asked.
“Sure, what’s not to like?” Eddie questioned back.
“Keep that in mind,” El told him, slowly raising her hand into the air. Eddie watched as her fingers became bent and clenched. He looked in the direction that her hand was pointing and saw his coffee table begin to shake.
“What’s happening?” he asked. The coffee table was really shaking now, and the TV was turning on and off. Eddie swore that he could hear his radio playing in his bedroom. “Guys, what’s happening?” The microwave beeped and the clock chimed. “I don’t like this!”
Suddenly, everything stopped. Eddie looked back at El who now had a bloody nose. Max moved forward to wipe the blood away.
“What the fuck just happened?” Eddie asked, still sitting perfectly in between Mike and Lucas. “Is she magic?”
“Not really,” Lucas replied.
“It’s a very long story,” Mike explained. “But, it’s what Steve didn’t want you to know.”
“El has powers, sure. She’s not magic, but she has powers,” Will told him.
“She’s good. Really good. She’s kind and loving, and she’s on our side,” Max said.
“But, there are other things,” Nancy stated. “Bad things. Things that are not on our side. Things that Steve wanted to protect you from.”
“Which was very noble of him,” Lucas said.
“Chivalrous even,” Mike offered.
“But, it wasn’t fair to you,” Nancy said. “He wanted to protect you because he was scared that if he told you, you would get hurt.”
“Which is possible.” Will reminded everyone. “You could get hurt. There’s a very real possibility that something could happen to you. To any of us.”
“But, we’re in it together,” El said. “All of us. You too now. If you want.”
“If you think that being without Steve is worse than monsters, then you’re in,” Max said. “But, if you really are scared, we’ll leave, and you can move on, move away, forget about Steve. It’s up to you.”
Eddie took everything in for a second. This was a lot, but there was nothing worse than a life without Steve Harrington. Eddie would take monsters and ghouls and the fucking devil himself if it meant being with Steve.
“I’m in,” he said simply. He shared a look with Max. “I’m all in.”
…
Everyone knew that Eddie was going to be in. They had made the same decision for their loved ones, and they knew Eddie would do the same. So, across town, at Steve's, Dustin and Robin had already gotten to work.
They knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Dustin knew that Steve kept a key in one of the bushes for the kids if they ever needed a place to crash. He found it and unlocked the door.
“Steve? You home?” Dustin called as they entered the house. “It’s Dustin and Robin. Your best friends.”
“He’s probably in his room,” Robin said. They both began climbing the steps. Robin knocked on Steve’s bedroom door. “Steve-o, we’re coming in.”
Robin opened the door and found Steve lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling with a tearstained face. “Dustin, why don’t you go get everything set up? We’ll be down in a second.”
Dustin quickly ran downstairs, leaving Robin and Steve alone.
“Hey, buddy,” Robin said, sitting down on the bed. “You don’t look great. Why don’t you come downstairs with us? We’ll make you some food. Maybe watch a movie?”
“I don’t want to move,” Steve croaked. “I want to lay here forever.”
“Okay, well, that’s not happening,” Robin said, dragging Steve out of bed. “I really wanted to do this the easy way.” She dragged Steve all the way to the steps. “I trust you can do this on your own.”
Steve walked down the stairs, knowing that if he didn’t, Robin would have no problem pushing him. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw Dustin playing with the VCR in the living room.
“What are you doing?” Steve asked.
Robin pushed him down onto the couch as Dustin started the video. “Just watch,” she instructed.
“When I got home last night, I started watching all the footage I got from the trip,” Dustin explained. “A lot of it was stuff I remembered. But, there was this one part in the beginning that I totally forgot about. I think you need to see it.”
Steve watched the screen. It was their first day. They were in Pontiac. Will was talking. Steve couldn’t help but smile. Suddenly, Eddie was walking up to Dustin and telling him he wanted to talk to the “viewers” alone. Steve vaguely remembered that happening. It felt so long ago, even though it had barely been more than a week.
“So, viewers, I have a secret to tell you,” Eddie began. Steve couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen. “Our precious captain, Steve Harrington, got lost on the way to Chicago. I pretended to accidentally help him get to the real start of Route 66 here in Pontiac.”
“Pretended?” Dustin asked behind the camera.
Eddie glared at him. “I’m trying to talk to the viewers here.”
“Right, sorry.”
“Anyway, viewers,” Eddie continued. “The truth is, I knew that Pontiac was the start of Route 66 because I’m from Pontiac. I grew up here. I moved when I was six after my mom died. I don’t talk about that a lot, so nobody knew. I’m sure you’re asking yourself ‘why didn’t you tell Steve’. That, my dear viewers, is the question, isn’t it?
“Well, the answer is simple,” Eddie explained. “Steve Harrington needs control. He needs to feel like he’s taking care of everyone else around him. I don’t know much about him yet, but I do know that. Let me let you in on another little secret. By the end of this trip, I will make sure that Steve Harrington learns how to take care of himself. He deserves it, and, by God, I’m going to help him get there.”
“Eddie–”
“Dustin, if you tell Steve about this, I will send you to an early grave,” Eddie threatened him. “Steve loves you. He takes care of you. Don’t you think it’s time that he takes care of himself?”
“Munson! Henderson!” Steve called in the distance. “Time to go!”
Eddie smirked into the camera. “Daddy’s calling.”
Dustin paused the video as Steve sat there in awe. “If that wasn’t enough for you, I could show you the hours of footage I have where he’s staring longingly into your eyes.”
Steve shook his head. “No, I’m good.”
“Are you?” Robin asked. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“I didn’t know about that,” Steve said easily, still staring at the screen. “I didn’t know he read me that well that soon. I didn’t know that I was that easy to see through.”
“You’re not,” Dustin told him. “The only other people who know you like that, fully, are me and Robin.”
“You’re not easy to understand, Steve,” Robin explained, sitting down next to him. “Eddie just really loves you.”
“He does,” Steve breathed out. He shook his head. “It doesn’t change anything. I still can’t tell him. He still can’t stay here.”
“Didn’t you listen to what he was saying?” Dustin asked. “It’s time for you to take care of yourself. Don’t worry about anyone else. Just worry about you , Steve.”
“We know that we can’t convince you to leave, and we’ve accepted it,” Robin stated, holding Steve’s hand. “But, let him stay, please. He wants to. He basically said it right there.”
Steve shook his head. “There’s no way he’ll take me back. I broke his heart.”
“He’ll take you back,” Dustin promised.
“You can’t know that for sure,” Steve said sadly.
“He’ll take you back,” a voice behind Steve said. Steve shot off the couch and turned around. Eddie was standing right behind him as everyone else stood in the doorway. Eddie jumped over the couch to stand next to Steve. “I’ll take you back.”
“Eddie, how are you here right now?” Steve asked, looking at the group of kids in his doorway pretending not to listen. He watched as Robin and Dustin joined them. “What did they do?”
“They didn’t tell me anything,” Eddie assured him. “They left that for you.” Eddie pointed at El. “That one there, though, I think she has super powers.”
Steve laughed as he watched El look away and Max wink at him. “She might,” Steve said simply.
“I told you once that I was never going anywhere,” Eddie said, pulling his mom’s ring out of his pocket. “I meant it.”
“Even if staying here with me is dangerous and messy?” Steve asked.
“I would rather have dangerous and messy with you than normal and boring with anyone else,” Eddie promised. He took Steve’s hand in his. “Do you want your ring back?”
Steve grinned, wiping away a tear with the hand Eddie wasn’t holding. “Was that ever even a question?”
Eddie put the ring back in its rightful place before cupping Steve’s face and kissing him with everything he had.
“I feel like we should probably go,” Will said in the doorway.
“No way,” Dustin scoffed. “I spent eleven days unwillingly watching you all swap spit. This is the only kiss I actually want to see.”
“Come on, kids. Mom and dad have a lot they need to talk about,” Robin tutted. “Let’s go swimming and leave them to it.”
“Mom and dad,” Mike said, shaking his head.
“Did anyone mention to Steve that Hopper was alive?” Nancy asked.
The group all looked around at each other before Robin waved them off. “He has more important things to worry about right now,” she said. “Let’s go swimming.”
With that, everyone ran out to the backyard and jumped in the pool with their clothes on. Outside, there was running and yelling and all sorts of chaos, but Steve couldn’t bring himself to care. He was finally taking care of himself.
“I love you,” Steve whispered against Eddie’s lips.
“I think you might’ve said that before,” Eddie joked, kissing him again. “I love you too.”
“Not surprising,” Steve said softly. He finally pulled away for real. “I really do have a lot to tell you.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Eddie suggested. “Today has already been a whirlwind.”
Steve nodded. “Tomorrow,” he promised, knowing the implication. He was giving Eddie his entire future in that living room. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. They all belonged to Eddie.
Steve Harrington was never truly going to leave Hawkins. That was just a fact. His loved ones would leave, but they would return to visit. They would grow up and grow old as Steve stayed back. He wouldn’t be alone though. He had a partner in just about every sense of the word.
Sure, Steve Harrington was never going to leave Hawkins, but neither was Eddie Munson. They were never going to leave each other, and that was just a fact.