Work Text:
It’s been a few weeks since everything happened with Vecna and the upside down.
Steve was home alone for the first time in a while. The past few weeks Eddie’s been staying with him, but now he was officially cleared thanks to Hopper’s government people, so he was visiting his uncle for a few hours. Now, Steve was used to being alone—his parents have been leaving him alone since he was old enough to fend for himself—but he’s been getting used to being around people. He felt lonely in a way he hasn’t felt in a long time....
Maybe he could call Robin? No, she’s hanging out with Nancy today. He didn’t want to disturb them. Dustin, then? No, he couldn’t call Dustin either. All the kids were supposed to be visiting Max in the hospital. She was finally starting to do better.
She had technically died thanks to Vecna, but she woke up in the hospital when El went to see her. Both of her arms and one of her legs were broken and she was blind in one eye now. The kids have been going to see her a lot. Lucas practically lived in the hospital with her.
Steve sighed. He didn’t want to disturb anyone. He looked around his room. It was kind of messy. Eddie forgot to put away the toys he was playing with before he left. Well, Steve could always clean up a bit. Maybe it would get his mind off his loneliness.
Steve started in his room. He picked up all the toys and put them back in his toy bins. Then, he picked up the dirty clothes and decided to start a load of laundry. After that, he figured he’d clean the bathroom. It wasn’t exactly dirty, but it could always be cleaner. Once that was done, he moved downstairs. He cleaned the living room and the dining room. He was working on the kitchen when it happened.
Steve was washing dishes when he accidentally dropped a plate on the floor. It shattered at his feet. Steve jumped back and away from the broken shards of ceramic. He began to hyperventilate. The sound caused his mind to run back to Vecna and the upside down and those goddamn bats that almost killed him and Eddie!
Steve hasn’t been able to regress properly in over a month. Sure, he was little a few times with Eddie, but he didn’t get to actually cope with anything whenever he was. He didn’t want to freak Eddie out by crying, so he always forced himself to stay strong and just play with their toys like a good boy.
It seems like this was catching up with him now. Steve felt smaller than he’d ever felt. And so so scared and alone! He stared down at the broken plate in front of the sink, shaking. His parents would have made him clean it up if they were there. But they weren’t. And Steve knew Nancy and Robin would never let him touch something that could hurt him when he was little. He...he needed them. Badly.
Steve shuffled over to the phone on the wall and dialed Robin’s number, silently praying she and Nancy hadn’t decided to go out anywhere.
“Hello?” Robin answered.
“R-Robin,” Steve sniffled. His ‘r’ sounded more like a ‘w’ which let Robin know immediately that Steve had dropped hard.
“Steve? Hey, buddy. You okay?”
“Lil.”
“You’re little? Okay. Is Eddie home with you?” Robin looked over at Nancy who immediately got up and started gathering her stuff.
“With Wayne.”
“Right. Okay. Nancy and I are gonna come over now to take care of you. You just hang tight, okay? We’ll be there soon.”
“Kay.” Steve sniffled. He hung the phone back up and slowly slid down the wall, hugging his knees. He stared at the mess on the floor. He couldn’t get the images of the upside down and Vecna out of his mind. He held his sides where the demo-bats had bitten him. He was healed now, but he was still scarred. So was Eddie. His fault....
Robin burst through the front door less than 20 minutes later thanks to the key Steve had given her for emergencies. She was out of the car before Nancy even stopped fully.
“Steve? Where are you?” She called.
“Here,” Steve answered from the kitchen. He was still staring at the same spot, with tears in his eyes now.
Robin ran to the kitchen and crouched in front of Steve. “Hey, little guy. You okay?”
Steve shrugged.
Nancy finally joined them in the kitchen. She knelt beside Robin. “Hi, Steve.”
“Nancy....”
“What happened to the plate there, honey?”
“Dropped it. Mad?”
“No, of course we’re not mad. It was just an accident, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Let me see your hands. Did you get hurt when you dropped it?” Nancy took Steve’s hands and looked closely for cuts. She was satisfied when she didn’t find any. “Did dropping the plate scare you into your headspace?”
“Mhm.”
“Aw, poor thing.... Robin, can you clean that up while I take him to change into something more comfy?” Steve was wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt that was slightly wet from water splashing him while doing the dishes.
“Yeah, okay. Go with Nance, Steve. I’ll be down here. Want some juice when you come down?”
Steve nodded. He accepted Nancy’s hand when she offered it and she led him up to his room.
“Let’s see.... Is there anything in particular you want to wear?” Nancy asked, opening the dresser drawer where she knew Steve kept his ‘little clothes.’ They were mainly just childish shirts or oversized ones that made him feel smaller.
Steve shook his head.
“Alright. Then let’s go with...this, and these.” Nancy pulled out a red sweater that was two sizes too big and a pair of pajama pants with Winnie the Pooh and pots of honey on them. “Do you need help getting changed?” Steve was usually big enough to get himself dressed, but he was a lot younger than usual now. Nancy might even say he was younger than Eddie usually was right now.
Steve could try to change himself, but he knew he’d end up needing help. He was barely able to get his fingers to cooperate when calling Robin earlier! “Help, please.”
“Okay. Lift your arms up.”
Steve did. He didn’t like to give Nancy a hard time when she was taking care of him. He was afraid she’d decide he was too much work and just leave him. Not that she ever would, but Steve didn’t know that.
Nancy quickly got him changed. She had two younger siblings. She knew how to get squirmy babies dressed quickly, and Steve was behaving like an angel.
Once he was dressed, Steve grabbed his teddy bear, Tomato, and hugged him tightly.
“Ready to go downstairs, honey?”
“Mhmm.” Steve held Nancy’s hand as she brought him to the living room. Robin was waiting on the couch with apple juice in a sippy cup and a plastic bowl of goldfish.
“Hey, bud. Comfy?” She asked.
Steve nodded and sat next to his best friend. “Eddie’s?” He pointed at the sippy cup. Eddie had to use them when he was little because he spilled with regular cups, but Steve didn’t!
“I don’t think he’ll mind sharing his cup with you. Look, there’s a dinosaur on it!” Robin knew Steve was a lot younger than he normally was, and figured it was better to be safe than sorry. She didn’t want him to drop a glass or spill juice all over himself and get upset.
“Dino....” Steve finally took the cup and took a sip of juice.
“So, buddy. Bad day?”
Steve shrugged. “Was alone.”
“Were you feeling lonely?” Nancy cooed. She sat on Steve’s other side and began to rub small circles on his back.
“Mhm.... Wanted to clean t’ get my mind off it. Dropped the plate and-and—” Steve started to hyperventilate. Tears began falling from his eyes. “Th’ upside down. A-an’ Vecna. ‘S my fault Eddie n’ Dustin n’ Max got hurt.”
“No, honey, that’s not your fault,” Nancy said.
“Is!” Steve started to cry loud, heartbreaking sobs.
“Oh, Steve,” Nancy said, sadly. She scooped the baby up into her arms and hugged him tightly. Robin grabbed one of Steve’s hands and rubbed circles on the back of it with her thumb.
“It’s not your fault, Steve,” Robin said. “You did your best to protect everyone. And, hey, Eddie’s healed. And Dustin only has a few more weeks with his cast. Max is gonna be blind in one eye, but everything else will heal. She’ll be okay.”
“Sh-shouldn’t had to go thw-through it. I didn’ protect them.”
“You tried and that’s all anyone can ask for,” Nancy reminded. “Everyone knows you tried and they appreciate you for doing your best.”
“Yeah,” Robin agreed. “And you know, if they shouldn’t have had to go through it, you shouldn’t have had to either. But things happen. Nothing that happened is your fault. The kids would have gotten themselves involved with or without you. At least with you there you were able to help keep them safe, right?”
Steve sniffled and gave a tiny nod in response to Robin.
“Drink some more juice, honey,” Nancy said, holding out the sippy cup. She didn’t want him to be dehydrated after crying so hard.
Steve took a few sips of juice.
“You know you didn’t have to be alone today,” Robin said. “You could have called anyone and we’d come hang out with you or invite you to hang out with us.”
“Didn’ wanna bother anyone.”
“Oh, honey, you’d never bother us,” Nancy said, truthfully. She knew she and Robin had told him that so many times, but Steve had abandonment issues thanks to his parents, so he found it hard to believe them.
Steve didn’t respond.
“We’re proud of you for calling us when you dropped and not forcing yourself to stay here alone,” Robin said. When they first found out about Steve regressing he was very shy and hated calling for someone when he regressed. Robin walked in on Steve crying alone in the corner of his room way too many times before she was finally able to convince him it was okay to call when he needed someone.
“Really?” Steve asked, with slightly wide eyes.
Both girls nodded. “That’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re little,” Nancy told him. “We don’t like you being alone, especially when you’re little. Next time Eddie goes to visit his uncle maybe you can go with him. Or you can come hang out with us. Or Dustin.”
Steve knew Eddie didn’t like being alone after all the Vecna stuff. He’s been staying with him the most. He didn’t realize that him staying with Eddie was beneficial to him too so he wasn’t alone either.
“Okay.”
Nancy adjusted Steve to a more comfortable position. He was halfway in her lap now as she cradled him like an infant.
“You feeling better now, bud?” Robin asked.
“Mhmm.” Steve yawned.
“Is somebody sleepy?” Nancy tapped his nose, making him giggle.
“Nuh-uh. Watch Winnie? Please?”
Regressed Steve was usually all about dinosaurs and Scooby Doo, but when he was a bit younger, he was obsessed with Winnie the Pooh.
Robin looked over at Nancy, silently asking if she should put it on. Nancy nodded. Steve would probably fall asleep in like five minutes anyway. Robin got up to put the movie on, then sat back down with her friends. Steve reached for her hand while his other one held the sippy cup to his mouth.
Nancy stroked his hair until he finally fell asleep.
“I think he’s going to need to be little a bit more often than usual for a while,” Nancy whispered. She felt bad that he dropped so hard while he was all alone.
Robin nodded, agreeing. “We’ll all keep a closer eye on him.”