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It was a nice Friday evening, Steve and Robin were working another shift at Family Video. Surprisingly it wasn’t very busy, you know for being a Friday. Steve and Robin were at the counter playing tic-tac-toe to pass the time when they finally heard someone walk in.
“Oh it’s just you.” Steve said not sounding very thrilled.
“Yeah. Hey, have you seen Dustin today?” Eddie asked.
“Was he not at school?” Robin asked butting in.
“No, he wasn’t. I wasn’t sure if you’ve seen or heard from him.”
“I haven’t. Did you ask the other shitheads that he’s usually around?” Steve said.
“I did, they said they haven’t heard from him or seen him but they’re sure he’s fine.”
“Maybe he’s sick?” Robin chimed in.
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna go check on him. The little shrimp told me his mom was going outta town this weekend so he’s probably by himself.” Eddie said.
“I’ll go with you, I actually get off work now.” Steve told him as he grabbed his keys.
“Hey morons, I’m coming with you, but before we go pester him maybe we should try calling him first?” Robin suggested.
“Okay, yeah. Fine.” Steve grabbed the phone and dialed Dustin’s number. “The little shit won’t pick up.” Steve says hanging the phone up.
“Oh Eddie! Try your walkie-talkie.” Robin said. “Oh yeah.” He says pulling the antenna out. “Hey Dustin, this is Eddie. Do you copy? Over.” Nothing. “Dustin. Listen man we just wanna make sure you’re alright.” Still nothing.
“Okay that’s it, let’s go.” Steve said as he headed out the door.
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Dustin has been feeling like complete udder dog shit. His mom already left for the weekend and his stubborn ass refuses to call anyone for help because he doesn’t want anyone taking care of him. It’s a nice thought, truly it is, but he doesn’t want anyone to take time out of their day just to make sure he’s alright because he’s not the only person in the world. Everyone is busy and has their own problems and Dustin doesn’t wanna be a extra thing added to the to do list.
He was laying in bed when he heard a knock at the door. He really didn’t want to get up. Everything hurt, his head, his stomach, hell his whole body hurt, Dustin was sure he was going to die with the way he’s feeling.
Again there was another knock on the door, it was more aggressive this time. He should probably hurry up and get the door. Dustin rolled out of bed and walked to the door using the wall as support since it hurt to walk. He finally opened the door and saw Steve, Eddie and Robin.
“Oh, hey guys.” Dustin said as he almost collapsed on the ground, thankfully Eddie caught him. Eddie brought Dustin over to the couch laying him down as Steve and Robin closed the door and came over to the couch.
Eddie put his hand on top of Dustin’s forehead. “Jesus Christ Henderson. You’re burning up, where the hell is the thermometer?”
“In bathroom drawer.” Dustin sounded exhausted. “I’ll go get the thermometer.” Steve said heading towards the bathroom. “And I’ll go get an ice pack.” Robin added going to the freezer.
Once Robin got back she put the ice pack on top of Dustin’s head and handed Eddie a cool damp wash cloth to wipe off Dustin’s sweaty face.
“Steve what the hell is taking you so long?” Robin yelled. “Yeah, yeah I know! Here, I found the damn thing.” Steve said kneeling down next to Eddie so he was in front of Dustin.
“Okay bud, open.” Dustin opened his mouth and Steve stuck the thermometer in. The temperature read 101 degrees. “Shit Dustin, why didn’t you tell us you were sick?” Steve asked as he took the thermometer out.
“Sorry, I just didn’t wanna be a bother.” Dustin responded in a low voice.
“How many times do I have to tell you, you little butthead? You’re never a bother, okay?” Steve told him.
“Yeah Dustin, you gotta tell people these kind of things. You got people who care about you alright?” Eddie added.
“Yeah okay.” Dustin responded.
“So what are you gonna do next time you are sick?” Robin asked him.
“Tell you guys.”
“Right.” Robin said smiling.
“Have you eaten anything today?” Steve asked.
“No, not hungry.” Dustin responded
“Well you gotta eat.” Eddie said.
“Here how about this, Steve and I will make you some soup alright?” Robin said volunteering Steve to make soup with her.
“Uh yeah, sure.” Steve got up and followed Robin to the kitchen. That left Eddie with Dustin.
“Eddie.”
“Yeah bud?”
“Bathroom, need to throw up.”
“Oh shit, uh yeah sure. Come on.” Eddie said as he helped Dustin up off the couch and to the bathroom. Steve and Robin were paying no attention to what the other two were doing, they were rummaging around in the cabinets looking for soup.
Eddie sat Dustin down by the toilet and open the lid so Dustin could throw up. He was on his knees with his head pretty much in the toilet. “Jesus Dustin, breathe a little bit.”
“It hurts.” He said finally bringing his head out of the toilet. “It really hurts.” Dustin was on the verge of tears at this point.
“Hey, hey, what hurts Dust?” Eddie asked rubbing Dustin’s back.
“My stomach, my throat, everything. Just everything, this is bullshit!”
“Yeah, I know.”
Dustin moved away from the toilet and leaned into Eddie’s side. “If you get me sick I’m gonna kick your little sickly ass.”
“You sound like Steve.” Dustin said earning a smile from Eddie. “God, I need to shower.”
“Yeah you do, you smell like shit.” Eddie teased.
“Okay whatever asshole. You’re one to talk.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Henderson. I smell great.”
“Yeah like cigarettes.”
“That’s better then shit.”
“Okay you know what, do I need to get Steve on your ass?”
“More like in it.”
“What?”
“What?”
“You said something.”
“No I didn’t.”
“Yeah you did.”
“Come one, I’ll start the bath for you.”
“I’m not a child Eddie.”
“Really? Because I’ve been helping you walk and right now Steve and Robin are in the kitchen making you something to eat.”
“Okay whatever, run the damn bath.”
“Yes your majesty.”
Dustin responded with flicking him the bird causing Eddie to smirk.
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While Eddie was helping Dustin with running a bath and grabbing clothes from his room, Steve and Robin were cooking chicken noodle soup, well they were trying to anyway.
“Steve I’m telling you! Take it off the burner.”
“No! It’s not even warm yet! We just put the soup in the pot.”
“Are you really that stupid? There’s steaming coming out of the pan.”
“That’s from the burner Robin.”
“You’re kidding me right?”
“No, the soup needs to heat up more.”
“Okay whatever chief Harrington.” Robin said heading to the couch Steve soon following behind her. “Wait where the hell did Eddie and Dustin go?”
“Right here.” Eddie said coming out of the bathroom closing the door behind him. “While you guys were playing chief, Dustin needed to throw up, he’s washing up now.” He said plopping in between Steve and Robin.
“This kid going to be the death of me.” Steve said rubbing his face with his hands.
“That’s your little brother Stevie.” Robin says. Eddie giggles a little. “He’s yours too.” She says looking at Eddie. “You know Robin you’re here too, so guess that also makes him yours.” Steve said. “Yeah yeah whatever.” Robin responded.
Eddie gets up and goes to the kitchen. “Hey guys you know the soup is on fire right?”
“Shit!” Steve and Robin both said. “Steve you dumbass I told you we needed to take it off the stove but no your sorry ass didn’t want to.”
“It would’ve been cold!”
Robin rolled her eyes. “You know what, Eddie and I can handle this. Maybe you should check on Dustin.”
“Yeah whatever.” Steve rolled his eyes and headed to the bathroom. He softly knocked on the door. “Dustin, are you alright?” Nothing. “Dustin, I’m coming in okay.” Steve slowly opened the door and his heart dropped. Dustin must’ve fallen asleep because his head was under the water.
Steve quickly unplugged the drain, got Dustin out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around him. Steve laid him in his lab, thankfully it only took a couple of gentle slaps and Dustin jolted up coughing up water while Steve rubbed his back.
“Damn it Dustin, don’t do that shit.” Steve said as he placed his forehead on Dustin’s. “Sorry.” He softly said. “It’s fine, why don’t you go ahead and get dressed.” Steve said handing Dustin his clothes then heading out the bathroom, closing the door shut behind him and heading back to the kitchen.
“Is he alright?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah, besides nearly drowning because of you.” Steve bitterly said.
“Okay no, we aren’t doing this. You two wanna fight go outside. The last thing Dustin needs from you two dipshits is hearing you fight so out. Now!” Robin said walking over to the door opening it for Steve and Eddie who walked outside.
Robin shut the door and turned around to find Dustin in Eddie’s sweatpants, which by the way Robin didn’t even know Eddie owned a pair until Dustin said something, and one of Steve’s hoodies. He looked adorable in the oversized clothes.
“Want some soup?”
Dustin nodded his head yes.
______________________________________
“What do you mean Dustin almost drowned because of me?” Eddie asked.
“You left him in there by himself, in the bathtub, while he was sick.” Steve angrily said.
“Okay how was I supposed to know he was gonna fall asleep? I’m not his babysitter!”
“I’m not his babysitter either.”
“Really? That’s funny because you sure as hell act like it.”
“No I don’t.”
“Are you jealous Steve? Is that what this is?”
“Oh come on.” Steve sarcastically laughed. “Really? You’re pulling the jealousy card?”
“No I’m not pulling anything, okay you wanna hear the truth? Is that what you want to hear?”
“Yeah, let’s hear it.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for almost letting Dustin drown because your dumbass couldn’t properly cook soup.”
“Are kidding me? That’s, wow unbelievable. So now this is my fault?”
“That is last thing I would ever do is wanna hurt people I love. I didn’t mean for that to happen to Dustin. I had no idea, I care for that kid Steve. I’m not gonna let you stand here and yell at me and act like I don’t care for him. If your jealous that’s fine man, but don’t you ever tell me I don’t love Dustin, he’s my little brother just as much as he is yours.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I’m guess I’m just scared to loose him you know? If Im being honest here, Im glad he has you because I can’t always be there with him. I just feel like I have to prove to him that I can be that big brother he needs. I want to give him something I didn’t have.”
“Someone to look up to? That’s the one thing you didn’t have right?” Eddie asked looking at Steve.
“Yeah, yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because I didn’t either and I guess whatever I found out how much that little shrimp looks up to me, it met a lot because I’d never thought I’d be the person. Cause you know, I’m just the freak. But Steve, let me tell you something, trust me when I say this, Dustin also looks up to you just as much as he looks up to, if not more.”
“He’s one of the reasons why I’m not an asshole anymore. That little shit asked me for help one day and after that I guess I became his big brother, hell maybe even his father figure.”
“I mean you’re still a little bit of a asshole.”
“Yeah, You’re right about that. So guess we have something in common.”
“Being assholes?”
“What? No, well yeah that but we both wanna be there for Dustin other then that I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re complete opposites.”
“Trust me I’ve noticed. I’m willing to get along and be friends for Dustin’s sake.”
“Yeah same.”
Steve and Eddie both shook each other’s hands in agreement to become better with each other for Dustin.
______________________________________
Dustin was at the table finishing up his soup while Robin sat with him.
“Thank you Robin for the soup.”
“Of course.”
“Is Steve yelling at Eddie because of me? It wasn’t Eddie’s fault, it was mine. He shouldn’t have to babysit me just because I’m sick.”
“I don’t think that was really the cause. They just both have a lot of built up anger with each other.”
“Because of me.”
“It’s not bad. They both just really care about you. They love you a lot, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“You finished?” Robin asked standing up from the table. Dustin nodded his head and she took his bowl to put it in the sink.
“I’m gonna go in my room, are you staying the night?” Dustin asked.
“Yeah if that’s alright. I’ll probably sleep out here on the couch or floor.” Robin smiled.
“Okay, there’s room on my floor if you want.”
“Thanks bud.” She said ruffling his hair.
Dustin headed to his room.
The front door opened. Eddie walked in and Steve came in right behind him closing the door.
“So did you two solve whatever the hell was going on?”
“Yeah.” Eddie said.
“Okay good. Come on Stevie, come help me with the dishes.” Robin said going to the sink. Steve walked to the sink and Eddie headed to Dustin’s room.
“What did it come down to?” Robin asked
“Turns out, we were both jealous and want the best for Dustin and definitely don’t wanna loose him, so we agreed to try to become friends for Dustin’s sake.”
“Good, glad to hear. I’m gonna stay the night. I’m assuming you and Eddie are too?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, well I’ll take the couch and you take the floor and Eddie can sleep in Dustin’s room on the floor.”
Steve was about to protest until Robin cut him off.
“Come one Steve, you’ve already made the man feel like shit.”
“Okay, okay fine, whatever. I wasn’t trying to.”
“Sure.” Robin said sarcastically.
Steve just rolled his eyes.
______________________________________
Dustin was sitting at the edge of his bed feeling a little bit better. He saw Eddie grabbing his jacket and keys off his desk.
“Where are you going?” Dustin asked.
“Back home.” Eddie said about to walk out of Dustin’s room until he felt arms wrap around his waist and a head against his back.
“No stay! Please. You can sleep in here on the floor, or even have my bed and I can sleep on the floor.”
Eddie unhooked Dustin’s arm from his waist and walked over towards Dustin’s desk to put his jacket and keys back on it. While he was doing that Dustin sat on the edge of his bed, Eddie sat next to him after he placed his belongings down.
“Dustin, I’m-“ Before Eddie could finish Dustin launched himself in Eddie’s arm and buried his face in his chest.
“Did Steve yell at you? I knew he did. You don’t have to apologize for me being a dumbass. I’m fifteen years old. The water just felt really relaxing and I fell asleep. You had no idea that was gonna happen to me and neither did I or Steve. I’m not mad okay.”
Oh shit, was Eddie crying? Dustin looked up and saw Eddie’s eyes were watering. He was trying to quickly wipe them away but it was to late Dustin noticed.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset!” Dustin said in a panic.
“Dustin, just shut up okay?” Eddie took Dustin into his arms again.
“Do I need to beat Steve up for hurting you? Or was it me?”
“No, it wasn’t Steve or you, it wasn’t anyone. I’m just glad you reassured me. The last thing I’d want to do is hurt you.” Eddie said placing a kiss on the top of Dustin’s head.
“You’d never hurt me.”
A little time passed and it was getting late Robin told Dustin goodnight with her usual hair ruffle she always gives him and headed out to the couch.
“Goodnight, if you need anything I’ll be out there on the floor, love you shithead.” Steve said giving Dustin a hug.
“Love you too asshole.”
After Steve left it was just Dustin and Eddie. Dustin in his bed and Eddie on the floor. It was quiet for a little bit until Dustin broke the silence.
“Goodnight Eddie.”
“Goodnight Hellfirer”
“Love you.”
“Love you too kid.”
And he means it he really does love the kid.