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Steve blinked blearily, eyes adjusting to the dark of the room. Some light streamed in from the moon outside, just enough that he could take in the outline of Jonathan's dresser. Steve stretched and rubbed a hand over his face. Why had he woken up? It was too dark out to be anything close to morning. They'd fallen asleep late enough that Steve expected it to be closer to ten in the morning before he opened his eyes.
Movement and a small, all too familiar sound next to him drew his attention to his side. When he looked, he saw Jonathan shaking his head in his sleep. Shit. Steve reached out blindly until he found the cord to the lamp next to him. It bathed the room in yellow light that he had to squint against.
"Ah, babe," he whispered at the sight of the tears on Jonathan's face. He wondered what it was this time, not that it mattered. They had plenty of nightmare fodder between the three of them. It could have been that Will was still missing, or dead. That they hadn't survived the demogorgon that night—Steve certainly had that one a lot, though he found himself back in the Russian's base more often than not recently (not to mention the ones where he didn't make it to Nancy in time and he could only watch as Billy ran her over). Nancy still dreamed about Barb, with the added nightmare of Jonathan not surviving the attack in the hospital.
They were pretty familiar with nightmares at this point. At least now they had each other to lean on. It had been… hard before. He used to be a heavy sleeper. Steve could barely remember what that felt like anymore. But now he didn't have to go to sleep alone in that big empty house every night. Most of the time they ended up here, in Jonathan's space. The Byers' house was warm and comfortable and lived in; Steve felt at home here in a way he hadn't felt anywhere before. They stayed at Steve's house some nights, too. He liked that they could get up to more, that they didn't have to worry about little brothers or parents in another room, but he still preferred the atmosphere at Jonathan's.
He rolled onto his side and carefully wiped his fingers over Jonathan's face. Jonathan's forehead creased at his touch. "Hey," Steve rubbed his thumb under Jonathan's eye. "Babe, wake up. It's just a nightmare, it's not real."
"Steve?"
Nancy's head popped up from behind Jonathan. There were pillow marks on her face and her hair was a mess. She was still beautiful; maybe even more so than when she was all put together. Rubbing her face, she wrapped her arms around Jonathan, curling her fingers into his shirt. "Nightmare?"
"Yeah," Steve said. "Seems like a bad one."
Nancy held Jonathan tighter. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "Jonathan," she whispered into his hair. "Baby, you're safe, it's okay."
Jonathan woke with a gasp. Steve leaned back when Jonathan swung at him, but he didn't move his hand from Jonathan's cheek. "You're okay," he said, waiting to see the recognition light up in Jonathan's eyes.
"Steve… Nancy?"
"We're here," Nancy told him, kissing his neck. One of her hands moved down until she could slide it under his shirt, skin to skin. Jonathan let out a shaky breath. He gripped her hand tight with one of his, never taking his eyes off Steve.
"Sorry," he said, squeezing his eyes shut. He shoved his head further into the pillow under him. "Sorry, I didn't—"
Steve kissed his forehead and Jonathan paused long enough that Steve could kiss his mouth, too. He felt the way Jonathan relaxed under him and it was only then that he moved away. "We don't apologize for nightmares, remember?"
"Yeah," Jonathan sighed, looking up at Steve for a moment. He turned, Steve's hand falling from his face, and Nancy pushed herself up to meet him for a kiss of their own. Steve leaned his head on his fist and watched them. Reaching out, Steve added his free hand to theirs under Jonathan's shirt. He was so lucky to have them, to get to be there when they needed someone to lean on and know they would be there for him in return. Things could have turned out so differently.
That was another one of his nightmares.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, running his knuckles over Jonathan's stomach. He kept the touch firm and non teasing, just needing to feel him and know that he was okay.
Jonathan hummed against Nancy's mouth and Steve saw the way she smiled against him. They parted, breathing a little heavier. Settling further into the mattress, Jonathan looked at Steve and shook his head. He pressed himself more firmly into Nancy's chest, letting go of their hands long enough to tug Steve closer. "Just this," he said softly, sounding close to sleep.
Figuring they could all use the light on tonight, Steve smiled and made himself comfortable in front of Jonathan. He threw his arm across both of them, resting his hand against Nancy's side. She looked at him over Jonathan's head. "Night," she said, blowing him a kiss. He grinned and did the same. "Love you."
"Love you, too. Both of you."
Jonathan was already breathing deep and slow in sleep but he was smiling and that was enough. Steve closed his eyes and listened to the sound of their breathing until he fell asleep.