Chapter Text
Steve never really had any thoughts as to what his life was, his family was rich, he had a huge house with a pool, and at school, he was the king he was always meant to be. Sometimes though, Steve would sit in his room and really wonder if this was the life he really wanted, a new hot and popular girl on his arm and the stares of every man in a 5-mile radius. Sometimes Steve felt that a part of him was still missing, like a space he still needed to fill.
It must have occurred sometime while he was asleep because when he woke up there was a thread, redder than anything he had ever seen, phasing through his wall.
Sitting up, he moves, sees that it follows him, and begins panicking as nothing he does makes it go away. After a while, he decides to just ignore it, ignores how it moves even when he doesn't move, and ignores how sometimes it seems to glow brighter before returning back to its original red.
He nearly forgets about the string, considering it doesn't seem to really do anything, but the second he steps foot on the school parking lot of Hawkins High the string is buzzing and glowing as bright as the sun.
Steve slightly thinks he's crazy as he starts walking towards the school, every step only making the string start violently buzzing until it suddenly stops when he turns a corner and sees that the string is attached to a girl. Not just any girl though, but Nancy Wheeler.
Now, Steve's not much of a studying kind of guy but right now he has questions that most definitely need answers, so he takes a trip to the only library he knows is in town and starts pulling books off of shelves.
He doesn't really know what he's looking for, a stack of books all on strings and threads in front of him as he skims the pages looking for anything that could help him understand what is happening. He stops on a page, all about the meaning of strings or something, all the titles started blending about 6 books ago. As he reads a line jumps out at him, "Since about as long time itself people have been connecting colored strings with different emotions, green as envy and yellow as happiness". Steve scans the pages of the book more to find what red means.
When he gets to the list, he stops, just stops. He doesn't move, he doesn't breathe, and he doesn't even blink until the dusty air of the library starts burning his eyes. "The red string can signify a lot, but in most cases, it is love and passion." , the book gets shoved aside and Steve stands up.
He paces for a bit before ultimately deciding to put all the books away now that he has what seems to be an answer of sorts. As Steve heads home he looks down at the string, still shining as bright as the first time he saw it. As soon as he's in bed he's thinking about it, Steve lets himself imagine what a life with Nancy Wheeler would be like.
Lots of books, although that's a bit on the nose, maybe a few kids down the line. Nights spent in her house, cuddling on a couch he hasn't even seen yet watching the newest movie that came out last week. Introducing her to his parents, them looking as proud of him as he has always imagined they would.
Yeah , Steve can see himself living the rest of his life with Nancy. So the next morning, while he is standing next to Tommy and Carol, the latter droning on about something stupid Becky did in her English class, a story he would never remember no matter how entertaining it is. He spots Nancy with her friend, her name starts with a "B" he thinks, and putting on the best smile he can muster, he walks right on over to her.
When she turns to look at him and her brown eyes widen in surprise, he definitely thinks that he can see himself growing old with her by his side. It's not even until he walks away, Nancy Wheeler on his arm as he walks her to her class like a good boyfriend should, that he realizes the red string is no longer there.
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Steve had been in a daze for the past few days, he had been led on by Nancy, goddamn, Wheeler and he doesn't even know for how long. It only really started after her friend, Barbara , his mind helpfully supplies, disappeared from his house and his parents grilled him for having a party in their precious home. The icing on top though is the fucking orange string that is currently attached to Jonathan Byers . It pissed Steve off so much, and of course, it appeared after he saw Nancy and Byers getting all buddy buddy in her room after she told him she was too busy with Barbara's funeral and her brother's missing friend.
Of course, it hadn't been his idea to write that on the theater's sign, but he had been too angry to tell Tommy and Carol to stop, and he was still angry when he saw that fucking orange string glow brighter as two figures turning into the alley they were in.
Steve doesn't really know what happened in his fit of blind rage, all he knows is that his face hurts and the officers asking him questions are very similar looking. He wishes he could have a clear mind for this, but the sun is making everything worse as time goes on.
Steve's wish is granted a few hours later when he finally finishes wiping the last of the spray paint from the sign. His mind is clearer than it has been in a while when he makes up his mind to apologize to Jonathan and get Nancy's side of the story.
Not really knowing where Nancy could be at the moment, Steve gets in his car and follows the orange string until he ends up at the Byers' house. It's a peaceful night Steve notices and as he walks towards the front door, he readies himself for anything Jonathan could throw at him.
The one thing he wasn't expecting? Nancy . Another thing? What seems to be a monster from a different world crawling out of a hole that definitely wasn't there before.
Running out of that house is the smartest thing Steve has done in a while, running back in though? The dumbest and simultaneously the bravest thing he has done since displaying an egg he dyed blue the previous night for a science project.
The bat is in his hands and getting swung before he even has time to think. The fire that Jonathan lights and then douses in front of him snaps him back to the present. As if that wasn't crazy enough, Jonathans whispered " Mom " as the Christmas lights hung up around his house lit up one by one solidified that night as the one night he will never forget.
Just like it had when he got with Nancy, handing Jonathan his Christmas present, and seeing the surprise on his face as he gets in the car with his brother Will, makes the orange string fizzle out until it's like it was never there to begin with. It also makes Steve's face feel like it's on fire for a second but Steve pushes down that thought the second it comes back up.
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At this point, Steve isn't even surprised when the kid, Dustin is his name he thinks, hands him a bucket full of meat chunks and tells him to start tossing it on the railroad tracks.
He is even less surprised when, upon entering the newly fortified abandoned bus, a bright yellow string snaps into place connecting him with the fieriest girl he had ever gotten the pleasure to meet. At this point, Steve doesn't have an explanation for why he is seeing the strings, but it seems they only disappear after something happens with whoever it's connected to.
He doesn't really know what it could be at the moment, but Steve has no time to think when they are suddenly surrounded by a ton of Demodogs as Dustin has so helpfully named them.
As Steve is staring down at one of those ugly things he thinks, no matter what, I'm protecting these kids until it kills me . Even as they are all running through the woods, exhaustion coursing through Steve, Steve keeps his mental word and makes sure the kids are safe. As they wait in front of the gates of the Hawkins Lab, Steve notices that the yellow string is no longer there. Looking over at Max pacing up and down the road, he wonders how she was doing with the whole monsters are real thing.
Definitely better than you, Steve's mind was never known to be nice, especially not to himself.
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He doesn't really get to recover from the yellow string shenanigans before he gets tossed right back into the fray. Although this time, he doesn't think he's going to survive.
Back at the Byers' home, Steve looks around a bit. Just as crazy as the last time I was here , the Christmas lights were no longer there but pages upon pages of drawings were taped on the walls. Really, at this point, Steve would be surprised if he even had a normal day in his life.
He sees the string before he hears the car, green. Yeah, he thinks solemnly, never going to have another normal day again.
He turns to the kids and motions for them to be quiet, heading outside to meet the man on the other side of his string.
Billy Hargrove…
Steve's had enough of magical strings for the day, and he's also had enough of how high and mighty Billy seems to think he is. All Steve knows though, is that Billy is currently pinning one of his kids to the wall and that breaks something in his mind.
The next few moments are a blur, he remembers a sting on his hand as it hits something solid. A maniacal laugh before his head starts splitting from pain and there's porcelain at his feet. He remembers being on the floor, a crazed look in Billy's eyes as he begins wailing on Steve, not holding back with any punch. The next thing he remembers though is waking up in the back of Billy's car with 4 kids that look just as terrified as he feels, green string nowhere in sight.
He also remembers a pain blossoming in his chest, a place he was sure he wasn't hit, but just like all the other feelings he pushes them down and continues yelling at the kids for them to stop, the blood loss must be really getting to him.
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Steve really wants to know what the hell the strings mean because ever since the mall was built he's had this light blue string connecting him to someone he just absolutely can not find. Every time he gets close the string buzzes and then stops, fading back to its original color. He tried going back to the library to find out more about it, but the books haven't been helpful.
He decided to bring it up to Nancy, although he knew it was going to be an awkward conversation. At first, he didn't know how to approach her with it, tip-toeing around his main point until he just sighed, threw himself on her bed, and asked her plain and simple if she had been seeing a bunch of different colored strings that have been attached to people.
She gaped at him, mouth hung open so far he swore a fly flew in there. "You see them too?" It was the first time Steve had ever seen her so flabbergasted, yes that was a word he had just learned recently, thank Dustin for the lessons . He sits up, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring up at Nancy like she had just dropped the juiciest gossip.
"So I'm not going crazy right? If you see them then that means I'm not crazy!" Steve had never been so happy and relieved in his life, it was like he could finally breathe again.
"What color do you see right now?" Nancy went straight into interrogation mode, switching so fast it nearly gave Steve mental whiplash.
"Um, I'm on this light blue color right now. It showed up after they built the new mall. I've been trying to find whoever is on the other side but I just never seem to be able to get to them" Steve feels so glad to be able to talk to someone about the strings, even if he could help but feels scrutinized under Nancy's gaze. "What about you, what color are you on?" Nancy seems to snap back into her own self, a small blush showing up on her face.
"Well about that, you see I was on this purple string for like the longest time. And it was connected to Jonathan but I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it, but then this whole thing at Murray's happened…" Nancy sits down on the bed next to Steve, "hold on who's Murray?" Nancy glares at him and he shuts up, man she could be really mean when she wants to be .
"Anyways, before you interrupted me, I was going to say that while we were at Murray's place he kept hinting at me and Jonathan being an item, and at that point, I had already decided that a life without him was impossible so I snuck out and when we kissed, Steve it was like I was finally whole. Like everything we've been through was for something." Nancy basically had stars in her eyes as she talked about Jonathan.
Steve had realized long ago that Nancy just wasn't for him, sure once upon a time he had imagined a life growing old with her but while it's still true he no longer thinks that she'll be right by his side. She's in the picture for sure, but she's just not the one he gets to call his.
"I'm happy for you Nance really, and I mean you bagged a really good one Jonathan is like whew , but back to the main topic of discussion, is that what the strings are for then, they lead you to whoever is your missing puzzle piece?" Nancy seems to really mull the information over, before seemingly coming to a conclusion.
"Soulmates! It has to be, I mean it's the only thing I could think of. They always say that when you meet your soulmate you feel as if that one missing part of your life is full. So what if the strings are like signs that are pointing you towards your soulmate." Honestly being around Nancy makes Steve feel like he's the dumbest person around.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Nancy." He smiles at her, a real genuine smile, before giving her a goodbye and leaving her house. Satisfied that he finally knows what to do with the magical strings.
The bad part now is that if the last color is purple, and the strings are seemingly going in rainbow order then he's just two strings away from meeting his supposed partner for life.
Too tired to think anymore Steve hops onto his bed and drifts away, images of what his soulmate could look like plaguing him. He only remembers long brown hair that seems to flow effortlessly down some surprisingly broad shoulders.
The week after his discussion with Nancy is simple, he makes a plan and fool proofs it. Considering the string showed up after the mall, he decided to apply for a job there. It killed two birds at once, or at least that's how Steve thinks the saying goes and lets him try and find his new buddy. Because he just knows that he's going to inevitably become friends with whoever is on the other side of the string, and it also gives him a stable-ish source of income.
See Dustin , Steve could be smart if he really puts his mind to something. Now the first part of his plan, get a job at the mall. Steve doesn't have many skills so anything that included hard labor was out of the picture, retail seemed horrible if his mother's stories were true. So the only other option was something that involved food.
Steve applied to 5 different food venue places and started waiting. He kept up his loyal duties in between, taking the kids to and from anywhere they pleased, especially Dustin. The kid was leaving for a month at this camp he has been wanting to go to forever and who was Steve to go against his kid's wishes?
Steve doesn't really know when the kids turned into his kids but he wasn't complaining and while the kids most certainly were, it's not like they could stop him. Dustin is with him the day he finally gets a call back from one of the shops he applied for, an ice cream shop called Scoops Ahoy . A bit tacky but Steve will take what he can get.
On his first day of work, he gets introduced to his co-worker, a high-energy bundle of nerves named Robin, who just also happens to be the end of his blue string.
He's not sure how exactly the strings go away, but he's decided to just let the moment go on naturally, and if he does something to trigger the string into leaving then good for him.
So for the month that Dustin leaves, he goes to work, ignores the buzzing of the string, endures Robin heckling him and writing down his flirting fails on the whiteboard they were supposed to use for the daily special, and thinks that he really enjoys being in her company.
When Dustin gets back from camp, Steve wonders if the day could get any better, but Steve sees that glint in his eyes. Knows that he has that exact same glint when there is something wrong, and prays that Dustin isn't about to pull out another baby demo-something from his backpack.
Thankfully Dustin informs him that it's just Russians because you know, what's worse than literal human-eating monsters? If he thought Robin was cool before, Robin just skyrocketed into second place for the best person in his life, second only to Dustin.
She cracks that code faster than Steve and Dustin could have, and even finds out what it means. As Steve watches Robin run around the mall mumbling to herself, he thinks that even if she isn't his soulmate he really wants her to stick around.
As they watch Erica come out of the doors to the storage space, reminding them she did it for free ice cream, Steve wonders how bad things are going to get after all of this.
He gets his answer later and that's when Steve decides that he needs to stop thinking things can't get any worse. Especially when they are currently stuck in a Russian elevator surrounded by boxes full of weird green things and Dustin repeatedly trying to get someone on the surface to answer him.
The only thing that really grounds him is the buzzing blue string that's still attached to Robin, and the strained smile on her face she gives Erica, who is currently trying to open and drink one of the green tubes, is enough to still his scattered mind.
It's not until later, when Steve's face had been caved in one too many times, and the roof of the mall was spinning that he thinks Robin should have never been dragged into this with him, should have never been caught in the crossfire.
The bathroom they're in is dirty but the ceiling finally stops spinning after he empties his stomach in the toilet he's clutching. "The ceiling stopped spinning for me." Robin's voice from the other stall snaps him back into reality, "Is it still spinning for you?"
"No. You think we puked it all up?" Steve is hurting everywhere, but he's grateful that Robin is fine.
"Maybe. Ask me something. Interrogate me ." Steve loves that Robin can still make any situation feel like it's just two friends hanging out, that even in the most fearful times of their lives they can still have a moment of peace.
His head is still throbbing and he can't find anything he really wants to know about her at the moment, so he goes with simple. "When was the last time you, uh, peed your pants?" It's a juvenile question but Steve can't think over the pain in his head.
Robin giggles before he hears a shuffle, he thinks she's getting up after laying on the floor, "Today. When the Russian doctor took out the bone saw. It was just a little bit, though." They're both giggling now, the past terrifying moments just something they can look back and laugh at.
"Yeah, it's definitely still in your system." Steve calms down, his breath coming in short bursts.
Robin finishes giggling, remembering what the point of Steve asking his question was, "Oh… All right, my turn."
"Okay. Hit me." Steve inches closer to the stall Robin is in, wondering what kind of questions she could come up with.
Robin thinks for a second before going straight for the heavy hitters. "Have you… ever been in love ?" The answer comes right to him, no thinking on his part is needed.
"Yep. Nancy Wheeler. First semester, senior year." He still thinks fondly of those times, but Nancy is happy with Jonathan and that's all he could ever ask of her, of the both of them really.
"Are you still in love with Nancy?" Steve has to really think about this one, and his answer comes to him as clear as water.
"No." And it's true, he is no longer in love with Nancy, that ship had sailed a long time ago.
"Why not?" Robin's confused, he can tell from her tone. She wasn't around for the monsters, didn't see the way Nancy would look at Jonathan like he was her everything while Steve looked on like a proud mother would look at her children.
Steve wants to tell her face-to-face, without a wall in-between them, so he slides under the stall, too lazy to stand up and go around.
"The floor's disgusting ." Robin wrinkles her nose in disgust looking at all the spots on the floor that clearly hadn't been cleaned that day.
"Yeah, well, I already got a bunch of blood and puke on my shirt, so…" Steve couldn't care less, he would take the dirty bathroom floor over having to face another one of those monsters or the Russians for a long while.
"So, why aren't you in love with Nancy anymore?" Steve unfortunately finds it harder to come clean with Robin right in front of him, but he trudges forward anyway.
"You know, I think I'll always love Nancy, I just don't think that I'll ever be in love with her again. She's happy with the guy she's with right now and really that's all I want from her. Plus, I think it's also because there's someone out there who's a little bit better for me." Robin winces as he says that last part and Steve wonders why considering he hadn't said anything wrong. He doesn't think so anyways, so he just keeps talking, it's something he's super good at apparently.
"It's crazy. Ever since Dustin got home, he's been saying that I should try and get with you, because according to him he hasn't seen me this happy in a long time." The more Steve talks the more Robin seems to cave into herself, he doesn't know if it's because of him or if it's something she's thinking about so he keeps going, he wants everything to be out on the table for Robin.
"But that's not… that's not really what I want. I mean you're great and all and really, hanging out with you is just the best, even if we are just slinging ice cream to bratty kids and infuriating teens. You're hilarious, like really you're so funny." Steve doesn't know where this is all coming from but it's pouring out of him and he doesn't really know how to stop.
"I feel like, this summer, I have laughed harder than I have laughed… in a really long time." Steve is telling the truth, the past month with Robin had been a blast. He doesn't think he could live his life without her in it anymore. So he keeps going, keeps telling her what he thinks of her.
"You're way smarter than me, you can crack, like, top secret Russian codes and… You know? You're honestly unlike anyone I've ever even met before." Robin looks like she's not even with him anymore, and Steve gets worried, shutting his mouth immediately. "Robin? Robin, did you just OD over there?"
"Look… you don't even know me. And if you did know me, like-- like really know me, I don't think you'd even want to be my friend." Robin is truly somewhere else as she talks, and it makes Steve really worry for her.
"No, that's not true. No way is that true." He doesn't know what to do, he thinks that Robin might just drop him. That he'll be alone again without the comfort of someone he finds to be truly genuine when they're around him.
"Listen to me, Steve. It's shocked me to my core, but I like you. I really like you. But I'm not like your other friends." When Robin finally looks back at him, he sees a hard look in her eyes, like she's gearing up to tell him something world-rocking, and in a way, she is.
"Look what I'm about to tell you is probably going to change your view of me, but I just want you to know that I'm fine if you lash out, just please don't tell anyone what I'm going to say." Steve looks at Robin, and she's kind of freaking him out with the way she's talking like the world is ending.
"Robin, you're really freaking me out here, of course, I won't say anything. There's nothing you could possibly tell me that I would hate you for." Robin looks hurt at what he's saying again, and Steve wishes he knew what he could do to comfort her.
"Do you remember what I said about Click's class? About me being jealous and, like, obsessed?" And Steve nods because of course he remembers, it's what defined the point at which he knew Robin was going to be around forever , even if she didn't want him to be.
"It isn't because I had a crush on you, or because I wanted to be friends with you. It's because… she wouldn't stop staring at you." Robin has that scared look in her eyes again, Steve really hates when she looks like that.
"Mrs. Click?" Steve really didn't remember who was with him in that class, but with the way Robin sadly chuckles he thinks he got the answer wrong anyways.
"Tammy Thompson. I wanted her to look at me, but… she couldn't pull her eyes away from you." Steve thinks he gets it now, maybe not fully, but he's had crushes before and knows what someone who has one does in those situations.
"But Tammy Thompson's a girl." And Steve's not trying to be mean about it, he just wonders if that's really what Robin's trying to tell him at the moment. Not wanting to screw anything up with her again, not ever.
"Steve," Robin says it so softly Steve doesn't even think she really said it. But looking at her face, at the pain she is trying so hard to keep down, he knows exactly what she's saying.
"Oh." He doesn't mean for it to sound like that, but just knowing that he isn't alone in thinking that people of the same sex are attractive and date worthy sends his mind in a frenzy .
He must have been zoning out because he finds himself jolting when Robin tentatively knocks her knee into his, "Steve… did you OD over there?" Robin is looking everywhere but at him, truly afraid of what Steve thinks of her now.
"No, I'm just, uh… just thinking." And he really is, he thinks of ways he can try and make her feel more comfortable. Even thinks of telling her that he sometimes has thoughts like that too, but he really doesn't want to steal her thunder. So he opts to keep his mouth shut and tries to get her back to her original self.
"I mean, yeah. Tammy Thompson, you know, she's cute and all, but… I mean, she's a total dud." Steve thinks he has to introduce Robin to Nancy, they would get along so well. And if he knows Nancy as well as he thinks maybe Robin can have another friend who knows who she truly is.
"She is not." He can see it, the more he talks. The way Robin starts relaxing and playfully knocking her knee with his as he analyzes her taste in women.
"Yes, she is. She wants to be, like, a singer. She wants to move to, like, Nashville and shit." Steve looks over at Robin, catching her gaze and giving her a heartfelt smile.
"She has dreams." Robin looks offended at what Steve is saying, but he can tell that she is relieved that he is still treating her the same as before he knew.
"She can't even hold a tune. She's practically tone-deaf. Have you heard her?" Robin laughing as he sings his Muppet version of what Tammy sounds like makes Steve feel grateful that he can see those strange magical strings. Especially now that the blue one is gone from his sights and a new friend he could add to his ever growing family is found.
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It had been so long that Steve forgot about the strings, almost 6 months had gone by, and he had a lot of different things to think of by then. Robin and him found a job at Family Video, a lot of talking with Keith on Robin's part helped secure that, so most of his time was spent trying to get his Harrington charm up and working again. Then the Byers packed up and left for Cali, he still felt a pain in his heart when Will was mentioned near him because although he wasn't as close to him as the others he still thought of him as his own. Finally, the kids had just started high school a while ago, so he had to suffer while Dustin would go on and on about some guy that ran the school's D&D club. Really he wasn't paying attention so most of what Dustin said went in one ear and out the other.
Of course, Robin had immediately come into the store rambling on about this girl she met in band when the school year started as well. He made sure to pay attention to her though, his way of apologizing for her having to sit through his flirting during their shifts. Steve still couldn't forget the time he told her he sometimes thought that he wouldn't mind dating guys he found attractive unless they turned out to be total assholes.
They were having a movie night at his house, Robin was having nightmares again and Steve was distracting her with movies that had the most basic movie outlines. She had brought over Top Gun for them to see, it was new and Robin said the plot was good. He was pretty sure it was because the female love interest was hot but he decided today wasn't the day to tease Robin with it.
The second he saw Tom Cruise on screen though? Steve died , he died, and went straight to heaven. He couldn't stop looking at him, especially when he was flying. Robin noticed the way he looked at him and when the movie finally finished she went right into questions mode.
Steve couldn't lie to her though, not after she poured her heart out with him. So he told her, about how sometimes before he accepted the fact that Nancy and he weren't going to work out he would stare at both Nance and Jonathan and imagine a life with the both of them. How before he died, his breath would get stuck in his chest every time Billy would look or get too close to him in the shower after gym, and how during that whole movie he kinda really wanted to jump Tom Cruise in his pilot uniform.
Robin could only stare at him in shock, before tackling him and demanding to know when he knew he was into both guys and girls. They talked for a long time after that, thankful that both of them had the day off.
So when he was driving Robin to her first day back to school as a senior and he saw a bright indigo string snap into place right in front of his eyes he nearly crashed the car then and there.
Robin gave him a quizzical look and he waved her off, trying to focus back on the road and not on how the string just kept buzzing as they got closer to the school. Steve wondered who the person on the other side could be before he got his answer when he spotted a certain one of his knucklehead kids walking through the school's doors, an indigo string connecting him to Steve.
He remembers what Nancy had told him nearly a year ago, about how indigo was the last color before you connect with your soulmate. So he starts being overly nice to Dustin, driving him around, buying him what he wants, and Dustin, being the smart kid he is, had begun to notice.
So of course he started using that to his advantage, and Steve just couldn't find it in him to refuse anything. It's partially because of the string and also because he may or may not think of Dustin as his favorite from the party. He wouldn't admit that out loud though, Dustin was already growing an ego bigger than his head, no need to feed that.
At first it's minimal things, an extra snack, maybe even a movie Dustin wants to watch but can't rent at the moment. Steve really regrets deciding to allow Dustin to tell him what to do when he finds all of the kids at his front door demanding he sits down and finally learns how to play D&D.
Steve complained at the beginning, not wanting anything to do with it, the lingo was really twisting his head up, but seeing how excited the kids were while they had him making a character convinced him to see the whole thing to the end.
They had a while, seeing as most of the kids' parents now trusted Steve with their lives, so Mike got back into his groove as a Dungeon Master. He made it easy but tough, with a few twists and enough lulls that Steve got the hang of playing quickly and actually found himself enjoying the experience.
They finished the campaign, and Steve found himself thoroughly satisfied with how the evening went. He made sure to thank the kids for introducing him to the game, and told them that if they ever needed a player they could call him up, although he did warn them about his skills.
It was nice to relive that time with the kids but Steve's bored and he's got nothing to do until his shift is over. Robin is currently at school so he can't even rely on her for his daily entertainment. The phone on the counter startles him and he knocks over a display of tapes he had stacked carefully next to him.
With a huff he answers and before he even has time to speak he hears Dustin's voice on the line frantically asking him if he could sit in for Lucas in their campaign they had been playing. He looks around at the empty store and agrees, asking Dustin time and place before hanging up and going around the counter to pick up the fallen tapes.
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It's not until Steve's hanging up his vest in the back that he realizes the indigo string isn't there anymore, instead it had been replaced by the prettiest shade of purple he had ever seen. He guessed that was the final stretch, he was going to meet his soulmate soon and a part of Steve worries that when he meets whoever is on the other side, they're going to take one look at him and high tail it out of there.
He shakes off that thought though, puts it on a back burner because he currently has a campaign to participate in and he needs to be fully prepared for anything. From what Dustin has told him, the guy who runs them, Eddie Munson , is ruthless when it comes to D&D.
Steve had heard of Eddie, but he never got the chance to meet him. A few whispers in the halls, maybe some poorly drawn things behind the school, but he and Eddie never shared any classes. So Steve went on living while being completely unaware of Eddie, until tonight it seems.
Pulling up to the school he spots Dustin and Mike sitting on the ground in front of the school doors, he notices the string is buzzing pretty violently now but he has no time to mull it over before Dustin is dragging Steve down the halls. Rapid fire facts about the campaign so far gets shoved at him before they end up in front of a door, a little sign that says " Hellfire Club Meeting In Progress. No Entry To Non-Members!". It's decorated in small drawings, little devil horns around the word "Hellfire".
It's cute, and he wonders who made it before Dustin makes Steve look him straight in the eyes. "Okay, so before we enter I want you to know something about Eddie,p" Steve's nodding along to what Dustin is saying, it's a bit tough because Dustin still has Steve's head in his hands but he still succeeds.
"See, I talk about you a lot to him, and while I'm sure he knows exactly who you are now, he still feels a bit iffy about you. So I want you to be on your best behavior , no mean comments, treat him like you would treat my mom." Steve rolls his eyes at Dustin, who is talking to him like Steve's the kid and needs to be told what to do.
"Got it Henderson, be nice, don't judge, and have fun." Steve finally pushes Dustin off of him before walking right into the room.
Moody , it's the first thing Steve thinks as he looks around the place. The light in the room is coming from a bunch of candles strategically placed around the huge table that's in the middle of the room. There's dice everywhere and a pretty rad chair is at the head of the table, it reminds Steve of a throne.
Dustin shoves him forward a bit before calling out into the place. "Eddie, you in here? We brought Lucas's substitute!" Mike looks around before sitting at the table, dropping his bag somewhere near his chair.
"Guess he's not here yet, good. There are a few more things you need to know before we get started." Dustin drags him over to a chair, Lucas's probably, before taking his seat directly across from Steve.
After getting quizzed by Dustin, which makes him feel like he's back in school receiving pop quizzes, they all sit back and watch the clock tick by. Waiting until it was the decided time for the club to meet.
Steve looks around once more before his eyes settle on the purple string that is still buzzing, seemingly worse than when he pulled up to the school. He wonders who it could be, before the door to the room slams open and in walks the most gorgeous man he's ever had the pleasure of seeing.
The guy sees Dustin and grins at him, before his eyes settle on Steve and his smile widens even more. "Dustin!" His voice is smooth and Steve wonders if recording it would be considered creepy, "When you said you knew exactly who to call, I didn't think you would bring King Steve straight to my doorstep."
Steve knows he's not the brightest, but anyone could figure out this was the famed Eddie Munson from a mile away. "Just Steve is fine Eddie, no need for the past right now" Steve lets his eyes wander, he takes in Eddie's features before he drifts down his arms and finds himself pulled in by the countless rings littering Eddie's hands.
Steve briefly wonders what they would feel like in his hands before he continues his, quite obvious , checking out of Eddie. As Steve heads back up he stops, because there's something attached to Eddie, and it very much resembles a purple string. The same purple string that he can easily follow back to his own chest, unfortunately Steve doesn't have time to think about the string because Eddie's talking again.
"Alright Steve," and the way Eddie says his name sends butterflies straight to his stomach, "Dustin here seems to believe that you can survive one of my campaigns" Eddie walks over to the chair/throne and sits down right on it, the wide smile is still on his face and it doesn't seem like it's going to go away anytime soon.
"Well then, let the games begin!"
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈
Steve's really riled up now, everyone else is out around him, Dustin is trembling next to him from the excitement. Eddie's looking at him with crazed eyes, the only thing grounding him right now is the weight of the D-20 in his hands.
He takes a shaky breath, before he's tossing the die and watching it roll out on the table in front of him. Everyone is holding their breaths, Dustin and Mike look a second away from having a total breakdown, as they watch the die come to a complete stop right in front of the Vecna figure.
"It's a 20, Steve you got a fucking nat 20 dude!" Dustin's voice rings in his ears as he jumps up and down from his spot, everyone else is screaming as they finally finish the campaign, but all Steve can see is the proud look that Eddie is sporting before he's bowing at him and smiling like he just won the lottery.
It's over, and the guys are starting to file out, Dustin is calling Steve over, wanting to go find Lucas and see how his game went but before he can leave he hears Eddie call out to him.
"Steve, can I talk to you for a minute?" Eddie seems a bit nervous, it's strange considering how he was before so he nods at Eddie. Waving Dustin goodbye Steve turns fully towards Eddie, who is currently twisting one if his rings on his fingers.
"What's up man?" Steve doesn't really know what Eddie could need with him, they had just met today but the purple string was really buzzing now and Steve couldn't think straight, not that he had been since Eddie walked in.
"I uh… well I mean I saw the way you were looking at me earlier and was wondering what that was about." Eddie is looking away, a slight blush is on his face and Steve absolutely melts at the sight of it.
Steve blushes at Eddie's words, stumbling to find a straight explanation for why Steve was racking every inch of Eddie and committing everything to memory. "Well it's just cause you know… well I mean I wasn't really expecting you to be so you but…" Steve was really screwing up with Eddie, and it's times like these when he wishes Robin was around to take over from him when things go awry.
"You wanna know something?" Eddie is closer than Steve remembers, but Eddie's eyes are so mesmerizing that Steve finds he doesn't mind.
"I crossed paths with a certain Robin Buckley not too long ago, and we got to talking. Now during one of these talks we somehow got to talking about crushes, and since you are friends with her I imagine you know how she can't seem to be able to stop herself from saying things before they are too late." And Steve's nodding along to what Eddie is saying, because he knows exactly what he means. Robin's mouth has gotten them in trouble more than once at the store.
"So here we are talking about how crushes are overrated and Robin accidentally lets slip that she once found Tammy Thompson to be the woman of her dreams until she was berated by none other than you for her taste in women." Now Steve noticed how close Eddie had gotten, he could practically count the number of eyelashes on each eye but Steve still couldn't find himself minding the distance.
"Yeah, I mean Robin could do so much better, the woman sounds like a Muppet. I truly don't know what Robin saw in her." Steve is chuckling at past Robin, because for as much as they have been through together he'll never forget their time in that dirty mall bathroom.
"See that's what I said, but besides that I was shocked because while she didn't even bat an eye when I told her that I was gay, she suggested that I come talk to you. Because apparently the man I thought was named Steve Harrington turned out to be completely different from what I knew." Steve wasn't sure if he was imagining things, but he swore he saw Eddie's eyes dip down to his lips once or twice while he was talking.
"Well who am I then? Who is the real Steve to you Eddie?" Steve can't help but look down at Eddie's lips too, can't help but watch the way his tongue flicks out to wet his lips every few seconds.
"Well I'm sort of hoping he's the man I could spend the rest of my life with, you know, if that's alright with him" Eddie's hands come up and grab Steve by his waist, it causes him to shiver, and he has never wanted to kiss a man more in that moment than he had in his entire life.
"Very much alright" and Steve is closing his eyes and melting fully into Eddie as he presses their lips together and is reaching up to thread his hand lightly into Steve's hair.
They pull away for air a minute later, and Steve looks down to see the string is gone. He smiles, happy that Eddie is who he was meant to be with, and kisses him again. Not wanting to waste any seconds without him.
Later as he recounts the story to Robin, who is both excited for Steve but also saddened by the fact that he got to kiss a boy before she got to kiss a girl, he realizes that the space he felt still needed to be filled was perfectly Eddie shaped, Steve just didn't know that at the time.