Chapter Text
Steve blinked up at the sight before him, trying not to sigh in exasperation.
Steve had always been a traditional omega. As a kid he had been soft-hearted, staying in to play house with Nancy and Carol when they asked, instead of refusing and going out to ride bikes like Tommy. His mother had knew then, at least so she claims, that he would grow up to present as omega.
“The perfect picture of a perfect omega.” His mother would say, pride in her voice as he came out of his room to model the new cashmere sweater she had bought for him, the material soft and comforting.
She was right, his large, doe eyes, small pink pout, smooth skin and lean figure all leant to him being a picturesque omega. She only ever brought him soft, omegan clothes. Warm cuddly sweaters that hung off the shoulder, dress shirts oversized to show off his collarbones, she even bought him boyshorts in a soft lace marketed for omegan males! Treating him like the soft, sweet omegan doll he was.
“Will if you don’t get down from there in the next thirteen seconds, I’m going to shove my fist so far up your ass the other kids will only see you when we watch The Muppets during tv hour.”
Well, maybe he wasn’t the perfect omega his mom thought he was.
“Shut up Steve!” The high pitched whine that could only belong to Mike Wheeler cried, as he glared up at Steve. “Will isn’t in the tree because he wants to be! He can’t get down!”
Steve stared unimpressed at the scowling boy, shifting his gaze to the small girl next to him. Jane didn’t seem to have much to say on the matter, instead her head was tilted a bit and her dark gaze seemed distant. Probably thinking about the tv hour that Steve had mentioned, what was with kids and tv these days?
Steve let out the sigh he had been holding and turned his head back up to look at the large oak tree situated in the playground yard of Hawkins Happy Day Daycare. Huddled in the branches of the tree was the shaking, teary-eyed form of 4-year-old Will Byers.
“Will,” Steve began, trying to use a gentler voice this time, “why are you in that tree? How did you even get up there?”
The branch Will was perched on was at least 13 feet up.
Will sniffled, scrubbing his eyes with his sleeve. “W-W-We made a pyramid, and I climbed up.”
Steve turned his head to glare at the other children gathered around his legs. Five carefully blank faces peered up at him innocently.
“Okay…” Steve said slowly. “Why?”
All six children remained silent. Will so stunned by the question, his sniffling stopped. The five children on the ground looked puzzled, turning to each other with brows drawn together before they all shrugged.
“No reason, I guess.” Lucas Sinclair, spoke up for the group. Lucas was usually the most well behaved child in the class, but even he was prone to the pointless stupid stunts children did.
Really, what kind of moron gets stuck in a fucking tree? Even kids should know better.
Steve pinched his nose, fighting down the urge to walk out of the daycare and quit. Did anyone’s first job right out of highschool ever work out for them? Surely quitting wouldn’t be a huge shame. Of course, if Steve couldn’t even handle being what was essentially a glorified babysitter, what exactly could he do? Omegas were meant to be natural at child-rearing, why couldn’t Steve have been blessed with the personality of a perfect omega, instead of just the looks.
“Steve! If Will dies in the tree, can I have his snack for snack time?” Dustin asked, eyes squinted up at Will as if his 4-year-old brain had the mathematical capacity to calculate the likelihood of Will surviving his stranding in the tree.
“No one is going to die!” Steve yelps quickly, not wanting Will’s tears to start up again. “I’m going to go up and get Will, you kids stay here and don’t move! I swear if any of you do anything, you won’t live to be 5.”
Steve began rolling up the sleeves of his powder blue sweater. He may be omega, but he was pretty athletic. He had even made it onto the basketball team in high school, much to the chagrin of the alphas who didn’t. He had been fairly good and, though the coach never said it aloud, it was obvious he had been the star player. His lean form made him nimble, he could dodge around the other players well. While his long legs made it easy to cross the court quickly. Not to mention, the tiny shorts of the basketball uniform showed said legs off enough to distract the players on the other team. Hey, if you got it, use it right?
Steve had absolutely no problem running up the trunk of the tree a few inches and then leaping up to grab onto a low branch. He hefted himself onto the branch as the kids below cheered, he couldn’t help a smug smile. He leaped for another branch and repeated the same, again and again until he finally reached the branch with Will seated out on it. Luckily, oak was a sturdy wood, and the branch was wide enough for Steve to straddle. He held his arms out and Will quickly, but cautiously shifted until he was in Steve’s embrace. Quickly shoving his snotty nose into Steve’s neck, seeking the comforting omegan pheromones of his scent gland.
Steves heart melted a bit, instinct telling him to reassure the frightened pup, and cuddled the small boy close, rubbing his backs and murmurmering soothing words.
“STEVE, JANE WANTS TO KNOW IF IT’S TV TIME YET!”
Steve rolled his eyes, pulled out the nurturing moment by Dustin’s loud voice. He shifted to peer down at Dustin, taking a hand off Will’s back to flip the boy off. Steve swallowed a gulp and his hand quickly retracted back to wrap around Will when he saw over the edge of the branch. The other children looked like ants from up here, Steve could barely make out the scowls on their faces at his rude gesture.
“S-Steve?”, Will was staring up at him nervously with watery, dark eyes. Hands clutching and unclutching in the soft material of his sweater. “Steve, are we going down now?”
Steve swallowed thickly again, peering down once more before the sight made him dizzy and he had to shift backwards, pulling Will with him, until his back was against the trunk of the tree and Will was cradled tight against his chest.
He was a moron stuck in a fucking tree.
“Steve!?” Dustin was yelling up again, this time his voice was more nervous. “Steve are you guys okay?”
He could hear the kids murmuring, voices sounding a bit panicked as they realize their teacher had no plans on climbing down.
“Steve!” Dustin’s voice sounded wet now, the kid had always been quick to cry. “Steve, Will, please don’t die up there! I don’t want your snacks, I promise. Please just don’t die!”
“We aren’t going to die, Dustin!” Steve shouted back, still not looking down for fear of fainting and falling and dying and actually losing his portion of snacks to Dustin, “but we can’t come down! It’s too far.”
Steve paused, swallowing his pride, he knew what he had to do. “Do uou guys remember what we learned on Sesame Street last week?”
“911 is the number to call, it’s the safest number for one and all!” All the kids yelled, echoing what they had heard during last week’s TV time.
“I can call them!” Max’s voice yelled up. “My big brother works for 911!”
Steve didn’t explaining to the girl that you didn’t ‘work for 911’, instead he simply yelled down. “Okay, the phone is on the wall behind my desk. You can use a chair to reach it, but be careful! Everyone go with Max, make sure she doesn’t fall. Come back as soon as your done.”
The kids didn’t answer, but the sound of tiny feet charging through grass told him the kids had ran off to do what they were told.
Well, at least they listened to him when it counts.
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After a few minutes, the kids had returned. Max informed him a firefighter was on the way. Will wriggled a bit in his hold, though he was still a bit scared from being stuck so high, the prospect of seeing a firefighter up close excited the young boy.
Steve wasn’t nearly as excited, instead his stomach clenched and his face flushed in hot shame. He would be the town idiot of the week, no doubt. His classmates had already teased him when he told them in senior year he planned on becoming a daycare worker once he graduated. Airhead Steve in charge of watching children? Who was going to allow that? This only proved them right, getting stuck in a tree while his class had to call for help to rescue him.
Luckily, Steve didn’t have much time to dwell on the thought as the piercing noise of sirens cut through his self-deprecation. The sirens quieted and after a few moments, he could hear the metal gate to the playground opening and the children running over to the fireman.
“They’re over here!” Max’s voice cried. “Please save them Billy!”
Steve groaned. Great, Max’s brother must be here, of fucking course. They had never met, as Max was dropped off and picked up each day by her mother, Susan. Now Billy would meet Steve, trapped in a tree while his little sister was unwatched and free to run wild. Steve would be losing his job for sure.
Steve wondered if the supermarket Joyce worked at during the day was hiring. He was brought out of his thoughts by a ladder suddenly appearing next to him, leant up against the oak’s trunk. Heavy thuds grew closer and closer until suddenly, a man was right next to him.
The most beautiful man Steve had ever seen.
His skin was tanned and smooth, bar his well-defined jaw where a bit of stubble was. He wasn’t wearing his entire uniform, instead opting out of the helmet and jacket, showing off his long layered hair and muscled chest from beneath a white shirt and suspenders. Steve swallowed thickly, trailing his eyes up the glorious chest to meet ice-blue eyes twinkling in amusement.
Steve jerked back, scraping his back against the bark of the trunk.
“Easy there, sweetheart,” The man’s voice was a low rasp, “Don’t be scared, I’m here now.”
Steve rolled his eyes, contemplating kicking the ladder over. Who did this shmuck think he was, some superhero just because he owns a ladder? Did he think Steve was just going to swoon into his muscle-y bicep-ed arms in gratitude? Steve did want to get down however, so he held his tongue. Only letting out a yelp when he was actually and unceremoniously scooped up in the stranger’s arms.
The man held Steve against his chest, Steve’s bottom cradled by the man’s left forearm in a half princess carry. His right hand held the top rung of the ladder. Steve had Will in his own arms, gripping the boy tight as the man started climbing down the ladder. From his position in the man’s arms, Steve couldn’t help but inhale the man’s scent. Smoky, woodsy, with a tinge of saltwater, like a bonfire at a beach, so very alpha.
Fuck, Steve thought, of course he is. Of course Steve would embarrass himself by being caught in a tree on the job in front of the hottest alpha Steve’s ever seen in Hawkins. Steve flushed bright red as he thought about what the alpha had said, he had called Steve sweetheart. Had gentled him like Steve was an omega in distress in an action movie, needing a big, strong, alpha to make him feel safe.
Steve didn’t know what what was worse, that the alpha thought Steve was some vapid, airhead omega in need of coddling or if that Steve’s inner omega preened at the gentle attention he received from such a desirable alpha. Maybe it’s been too long since Steve’s been laid.
After what felt like an eternity, they three had safely reached the ground. The man carefully set Steve’s feet down and Steve, in turn, let Will go. The other children quickly tackled Will to the grass with cries of happiness to have their friend back safe and sound.
“You alright, princess?”
Steve pulled his eyes away from the strangely warming sight of the cuddle pile the kids were having and turned back to the alpha, fighting down another blush at the piercing gaze. To Steve’s shock, he saw the blue eyes were slowly tracing his every curve, and Steve was fairly confident he wasn’t really looking for injuries.
It seems Steve wasn’t the only unprofessional worker on the job, today. He smiled internally a bit, the handsome alpha was interested in him! Though he didn’t particularly care for all the pet names.
“I’m fine.” Steve said curtly, fluffing up his hair a bit and trying to look nonchalant, cool, and not like he had just been trapped in a tree in a children’s playground. He paused, and deflated a bit when he realized the look was probably not achievable.
“Thank you…”, Steve trailed off, feeling a bit shy that the alpha had seen him in such a situation, even if the alpha was clearly interested in him, “For helping us down, I mean. Sorry if we wasted your time, I thought I would be able to get down on my own but once I was up there the ground seemed farther than it was and I...”
Steve trailed off as he saw the amused look on the alpha’s face. The alpha’s lip curled in a smile as if he were holding back laughter, and a pink tongue peeked out to wet the lips briefly. Steve’s eyes couldn’t help but dart down to trace the action.
“Yeah well, when Max called crying cause her favorite teacher and best pal were trapped in a tree, I just had to come see for myself. She never mentioned her teach was such a pretty thing.” He teased.
Steve paused, “I’m her favorite teacher?” He asked, pride no doubt seeping into his voice.
The man rolled his eyes, unimpressed his flirtation had gone unnoticed in favour of his sister’s compliment “She’s 4, you’re her only teacher.”
Steve let his arms fall to his side, letting out a tiny giggle at the alphas clear jealousy. He coyly looked up at the alpha from beneath his lashes, admiring the man’s handsome looks once more.
Though Steve was a typical omegan beauty, he just never seemed to have any luck with alphas. The last alpha Steve had been with was Nancy Wheeler, Mike’s older sister. They had dated in high school, until senior year when she had dumped Steve in favour of Will’s brother, the beta Jonathan Byers. Hawkins was a small town. Things had been awkward the first day of daycare, when both Nancy and Jonathan had come to drop off their younger siblings. At first, Steve had resented Nancy, an alpha dumping an omega to mate with a beta was a huge blow to the omega’s honor and there had been plenty of gossip around the town on what a lackluster omega Steve must be in bed. After a few months, Steve had forgiven Nancy. He saw how happy she was with Jonathan, and he only wished them well together. Though he couldn’t help but wish to have a mate of his own.
So what the hell? This gorgeous alpha was here. He was flirting with Steve, and he already saw Steve stuck in a tree! What more did Steve have to lose? Maybe the man wouldn’t fall in love with Steve, wouldn’t mate with Steve, but he could sure as hell sleep with Steve. Steve already slept with one of his students’ siblings, so fuck it, why not make it two?
Emboldened, Steve let his hand trail up the alpha’s bicep, feeling the muscle twitch under his hand. A seductive smile, one he practiced in his bathroom vanity several nights during high school, pulled at his lips.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think she’s mention you before.” Steve said, tilting his head to show off his shoulder and neck in a way he knew drove alphas wild, their instinct to snuff at the scent glands there, to bite at the mating gland there, and judging from the way the man’s nostrils flared it was working. “I’m Steve Harrington, it’s nice to meet you.”
A shit-eating grin appeared on the man’s face, no doubt pleased Steve was responding to his flirtations. Though with his handsome features, the expression looked a bit more charming than it had any business being. Not to be outdone, the man wrapped a heavy arm around Steve’s waist, using his other arm to grasp a hold of Steve’s hand and brought it up to press a kiss to the knuckles of it.
“Billy Hargrove, and the pleasure is all mine.” The man drawled, eyes darkening as he took in Steve’s fine features and flushing face.
“Yes, well…” Steve trailed off, eyes darting between Billy’s sultry eyes and his slightly parted lips. “Like I said, thank you for your help.” Steve paused again, face still a soft pink, as an unwanted thought interrupted his seduction mission.
“Can you um, not tell anyone about this?”, Steve asked in a hopeful voice, “If the parents find out a kid got stuck in a tree on my watch and that the others were unsupervised when I got stuck, I’d be in big trouble.”
From his place in the alpha’s arms, Steve could feel the vibration when the man chuckled.
“Don’t you worry, Princess”, Billy smiled, rubbing the small of Steve’s back in a way meant to be soothing, but really it sent sparks up Steve’s spine. “I think this can be kept just between us.”
Steve blushed harder at the reoccurring pet name, a scowl coming over his face. He had nearly forgotten how smarmy and cocky the guy had been up in the tree, clearly the guy had a real alpha-complex. Before he could say anything about it, a chirping noise startled the pair.
Billy dropped the arm from around Steve’s waist, Steve managed to fight down an embarrassing whine at the loss, and snatched up a beeper that was attached to his belt. He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his jaw, going from stereotypical alpha playboy to tired, beleaguered worker in an instant. Steve thought briefly this glimpse at the vulnerable alpha was almost cute.
A sudden vision of a tired Billy coming home from a hard days work, where Steve was waiting with dinner and a back-rub flooded Steve’s mind. He quickly shook his head, stopping the fantasy before it got out of hand. He blinked up at a quizzical expression, before realizing the alpha had been saying something.
“Huh?”
Billy rolled his eyes at the unintelligent response, but a grin played on his lips. “Forget it,” He said. “I gotta go, seems like you aren’t the only kitten stuck in a tree. Some cat named Mews is up a tree up on Curtin Street.”
“MEWS!?”, the two startled, breaking their eye contact to look down where a distraught Dustin stared up at them. The kids had gathered around the alpha and omega while they had been flirting, Steve realized with a flush.
Steve ignored the shame of being caught mid-seduction by a group of toddlers, and crouched down, ruffling Dustin’s curls. “Don’t worry, bud. Billy’ll rescue Mews just like he rescued me and Will.”
“Yeah! Billy’s a hero!” Will cheered, eyes practically twinkling as he stared up in worship at the alpha. Jane nodded her head feverently, looking just as enchanted with the man who saved her teacher. Mike, Lucas, and Max all excitedly chattered their agreement, saying how cool Billy looked coming down from the tree with Steve and Will in his arms.
Billy huffed, though his chest puffed out a bit in pride, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m gonna go get your cat, kid, don’t start bawling.” Billy clipped the beeper back onto his waist and walked over to collect the ladder still leaning against the tree. As Billy passed, heading for the gate with the ladder hefted onto his shoulder, Steve couldn’t help but call out.
“Y’know. I’ve been trying to do more outreach stuff…” Billy raised a single dark brow up in curiosity, as Steve flustered. “I-I-I mean, like getting figures from the community to come to the classroom to talk about what they do. Joyce Byers, the night nurse from the hospital, came…”
Billy still had the confused expression, but he didn’t walk away, so Steve continued.
“And her son, Will’s brother, Jonathan came with Mike’s sister, Nancy. She’s a reporter for the Hawkins Daily and he’s the photographer. Even Sheriff Hopper came.”
Billy’s expression changed from curious to disbelief, likely in shock that lazy Sheriff Hopper would waste his time talking to a bunch of toddlers. Of course, Jane is Hopper’s adopted and very cherished daughter, but Billy didn’t need to know that.
“What I’m saying is….”, Steve took a deep breathe, biting his lip and trying not to seem overly eager, and definitely trying not to seem like he was using this as an excuse to see the handsome alpha again, “Maybe you could come back? Teach the kids about what it’s like being a firefighter? Or maybe about fire safety?”
The kids all cheered at the idea, Max launching herself into Billy’s legs, begging him loudly to come back. Billy kicked the girl off, rolling his eyes, but when he glanced back at Steve he gave a smile,
“Lucky for you I’m off-duty tomorrow.”, Billy paused, glancing down at the hopeful kids, “ and I’ll only come if all of you swear you won’t tell anyone about Will and Steve getting stuck in the tree. Not even your mommies and daddies.”
The kids all cried promises, Max going as far as to swear on her dogs life, which seemed a bit over dramatic, especially since she likely lived with Billy and saw the man all the time. Plus, she didn’t even have a dog as far as Steve knew.
Nonetheless, Steve couldn’t help but beam, trying and failing to not release content omega pheromones. Billy was coming back tomorrow! Very handsome, very alpha Billy was coming back tomorrow when Steve asked him to! He protected Steve by making the kids promise not to rat Steve out! Steve didn’t linger on these thoughts, a bit worried he was already getting too attached to the man, instead he simply said “Perfect! See you then!”
With that seeming to be that, Billy gave Steve a wink, and turned around heading out the playground gate with the ladder. Off to rescue Mews, hopefully. Steve watched him leave, paying particular attention to the way his uniform pants were tight against his backside. Even when the man was out of sight, Steve lingered, thinking of what tomorrow would be like. What would Steve wear? It had to be professional enough for daycare wear as to not seem desperate, but sexy enough to seem seductive. Steve was so lost in these thoughts he didn’t notice as the children gathered in a huddle, keeping wary eyes on their dazed teacher.
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“What’s wrong with Steve?” Dustin asked, was that a bit of drool leaking out of Steve’s mouth? “Did he hit his head coming down the tree?”
Mike snorted, “Nah! This is his lovey dovey look.” Mike’s face suddenly took on a disgusted expression. “He used to look at Nancy like this.”
“Oh my god!” Max cried. “Steve’s in love with my brother! Yuck!”
“I think it’s cute…” Jane murmured, eyes looking a bit glazed. “Like the love stories on TV.”
“Besides,” Will chimed in, “Billy’s in love with Steve too. He called Steve sweetheart in the tree, and he kissed Steve’s hand!”
“Billy’s in love with my teacher! Double yuck!” Max began to fake gag.
Jane let out a dreamy sigh, clearly charmed by the blooming love story she was imagining between the two.
Mike glanced at Jane’s content face, “Well...maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they were together…”
“WHAT?” Cried Dustin and Max, both clearly in opposition to the idea.
“I mean,” Mike began, “When my sister and Steve broke up, Steve was really sad. If Billy and Steve are in love, maybe Steve can be happy again.”
Dustin looked a bit mollified at this. “Okay,” Dustin said, “yeah. Plus, iif Billy loves Steve, Billy will come over all the time and we can play on the fire truck.” Lucas eagerly nodded at the idea.
Max looked a bit skeptical still.
“Maybe Billy will tell Steve to stop giving us healthy snacks for snack time and he’ll give us cookies instead.” Mike chimed in.
“Okay, so how do we make sure they’re in love?” Max said, instantly on board. She was so sick of eating Steve’s granola bars during snack time.
The group paused, faces all pinched in concentration.
“Well…” Lucas began slowly. “My mommy and daddy are in love, and they’re having a new baby. When my mommy told me, she said it’s ‘cause when two betas love each other they have a baby. I think it’s probably true for alphas and omegas too.”
“Yeah that must be true,” Mike said wisely, “My mom’s an alpha and my dad’s a beta and they told Nancy they might try to have a baby soon too, and my mom and dad are definitely in love.”
Will shrugged, “I guess it makes sense, because my mommy hates my daddy and she’s not having a baby.”
Jane thought about Jim, who didn’t spend much time with anyone but her and nodded too.
Dustin thought about his mom and how much his mom loved Mews, but decided that path was too weird even for him and stopped.
“Okay, so we’ll just make sure Steve and Billy have a baby,” Dustin said, “But how can we do that?”
“I’ll ask my mommy!” Lucas said. “She knows a lot about baby stuff. You guys can ask your mommies too, and Jane you can ask Mr. Hopper.”
“Okay,” Mike nodded, “Everyone, ask your moms today, then tomorrow before Billy leaves we can say what we found out and make a plan.”
The group cheered, chattering away to each other excitedly.
“What’re you guys up to?”
The group froze, turning to see Steve had awoken from his day dream, and was now looking at the group suspiciously, hands on his hips. The group turned to each other before collectively turning to Steve with angelic smiles.
“Nothing, Steve.” Max said innocently.
Steve frowned, they were definitely up to something, but judging on how he could lose his job if any of the blabbed to their parents about what happened today he decided to shrug it off.
“Ready for TV time?”
The children cheered, and Jane in her eagerness for TV, led the group back into the daycare. All six children and one teacher very excited for tomorrow’s visit.