Work Text:
Wednesday’s at family video were typically boring, there were no new shipments till Friday, and no one really showed up until after four. It was around three, and Steve had just decided to take his break.
“Hey Dingus, your Middle Schoolers are here” called Robin from the front of the store. Despite all Steve and Robin went through together, their relationship didn’t change much after the whole ‘captured by Russians’ fiasco. Robin still teases Steve relentlessly, and Steve is her biggest hype man.
“Just send them back here Rob”. Of course they’d come to interrupt him on his break, what else was new?
“M’ not a Middle Schooler anymore, I’m finally out of that fucking hell hole” Dustin replied defensively, as he made his way into the break room. Naturally, Mike and Lucas were in tow.
“My bad, in that case, your Freshman are here” Robin added dryly.
The door closed and Steve rubbed his temples in frustration, “Watch your language Henderson”.
“Oh I’m sorry for using foul words around your lady” Dustin teased while wiggling his eyebrows.
“For the last time I’m not his lady Henderson” Robin yelled. This caused Lucas and Mike to snicker until Dustin shot them a look.
“I swear she’s got supersonic hearing dude, ” Dustin whispered.
“Yeah, yeah I’ve heard the theories a million times Henderson, now tell me why you're here, I don’t have much break time left”.
“So Hellfire…” Mike tried to say.
“You mean that nerd club with the super senior?”
“Yeah whatever, that, so anyway we have this huge campaign this weekend, but it happens to be the same day as Lucas’ basketball thing”
“Championship!” Lucas added, which earned him another glare.
“Anyway,” Dustin interrupted, “Eddie only agreed to move the campaign to Sunday if one of us finds a place to host that’s better than the classroom we usually use at school.”
Mike pitched in,“The smell of mildew and books kind of kills the vibe”.
Dustin, clearly annoyed by the interruption continued, “ But, all of our parents said no to hosting, so I got to thinking, who do we know that’s super cool, and has a house that-”.
“No, there's no way you’re hosting your nerd club at my house!”.
“Please, if not for us nerds, then for your fellow jock” Dustin said gesturing towards Lucas, “Riding the bench for this championship is the only thing poor Lucas has got! Don’t make him let down his team and lose the only shreds of popularity he’s got” Dustin threw himself on the ground and grabbed onto Steve’s hand.
“Okay, okay fine, nerd club at the Harrington residence it is. Dammit Dustin when did you get so god damn dramatic”.
“Blame Eddie,” Lucas complained.
“Great, can't wait to house that delinquent this weekend, now get out of here my break is ending.”
“Bye Mom” they chorused sarcastically as they made their way through the store and out the front door.
Dustin lingered for a little longer, “Bye Robin, take care of Steve, will you?”.
“Oh I will, as his trusty Best Friend and nothing more” Robin replied while messing up Steve’s hair..
“Whatever you say love birds”. Dustin then began to make kissy faces.
“Out, Henderson, out” Steve called while fixing his hair, “Those kids are gonna be the death of me” Steve huffed, “ I’m sorry about him, he’s had this fixation on finding me the perfect girl since me and Nancy broke up, and he seems to think that’s you”.
This sent Robin off into a laughing fit, “Don’t worry about it, honestly, Dustin is the most tolerable out of your minions. Anyway, what’s this I hear about you hosting Eddie Munson’s DnD club?”.
Steve’s starting to think she really does have supersonic hearing. “Ugh I swear those kids know how to wear me down”. Steve complained with his head in his hands.
“Yeah you really are like their mother, you know if you think about it y-” Robin’s thought was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They both turned to see a red head girl with a movie in her hand, she was staring right at Robin, and seemed oblivious to Steve’s presence.
“Um hi, you’re Robin right? We’re in band together, I mean of course you’re Robin it says so on the tag. I uh, well I’m here to return Fast Times” she rambled while blushing.
Robin seemed stunned and she was blushing as well. This was Steve’s cue to make himself scarce, “I’m gonna restock so, I’ll leave you to it, '' Steve said smugly, while tapping Robin on the shoulder in encouragement.
The rest of the week went by quickly, with Robin overanalyzing her and Vickie’s every interaction, and Steve reminding her she had Fast Times paused on that scene. Soon the championship arrived, and much to everyone’s surprise, including his own, Lucas managed to score the winning point after spending all season on the bench. This was definitely cause for celebration.
So, Steve took him and the kids for ice cream, and he even convinced Max to tag along. Lucas was practically living on cloud nine. So much was going on that he almost forgot about his promise to host their DnD club the next day, almost , Dustin was the only one seemingly unaffected by everything going on.
“Everything has to be perfect for tomorrow, or Eddie is never gonna let us live this down! Oh and the table has to be-”
“Relax Henderson, everything is going to be perfectly fine for your nerd club tomorrow. The house is relatively clean, I’ll tidy it up tomorrow morning, and I’ll order pizza, all you have to do is show up at 6”.
Seemingly out of nowhere Dustin hugged him, “Thanks so much Steve, I know I’m a dick sometimes, but I really appreciate what you do for us, for me”.
Steve started to tear up, sure he fell into these kids' lives by accident, and under life threatening circumstances, but he really did care about them. If Steve had some sort of role model when he was younger, maybe he wouldn’t have been such a jerk in highschool.
He ruffled Dustin’s hair lovingly, “Yeah yeah, I’m like a god, I know that, maybe you can show your appreciation by watching your mouth”.
“Sorry Mom!” Dustin replied, pushing Steve away.
The next day, Steve was clearing off the table around 4 oclock when there was a knock at the door. “Yeah yeah, one minute Henderson, I told you there was nothing to worry abou-” he opened the door, only to find himself face to face with Eddie Munson.
Steve only really knew of Eddie in High School, he’d seen him in passing, and heard Tommy talk about what a ‘freak’ he was, but beyond that he didn’t know much. He was carrying some DnD stuff in his hand, like a book with a dragon on the cover, and a binder he decorated with the ‘Hellfire’ logo. His dark hair was in a ponytail, (Steve’s always had a thing for ponytails), and for some reason Steve wanted to reach out and fun his fingers through the curls. Odd, but Steve tried to push the thought away, but what really made Steve stop in his tracks, was the fact that under his jean vest, he was wearing one of the ‘Hellfire’ shirts that the kids always wear, but this one was cropped, leaving his stomach exposed. Against his own will Steve gulped nervously.
“Gonna let me in or are you going to keep staring, Harrington?” Eddie asked ‘coyly’.
“I wasn’t staring!” Steve replied defensively.
“Sure you weren’t, so…” Eddie looked expectantly, waiting for Steve to move out of the way and let him in.
“You’re early” was all Steve’s brain could supply. Eddie seemingly took this as his official invitation, and he snaked past Steve, and made his way into the formal dining room.
“I need to set up before everyone gets here” he inspected the room for a moment, “Yeah, this’ll do”.
“You need two hours to set up for your nerd meeting?” Steve scoffed.
Eddie turned around and raised an eyebrow at Steve, he had a pen cap in his mouth, and for some reason that made Steve’s stomach do weird flips. “I’m gonna choose to ignore the nerd comment for the time being. You have no idea how much time and consideration goes into forming a campaign, this is no chutes and ladders, I create an immersive story where the players are the main characters. A good story can completely fall flat without the right ambiance. They need to feel like they’re up against the cult of Vecna, not sitting in your dining room Harrington”.
Something about the passion in his voice was almost… endearing? “Steve”.
“What?”.
“Just call me Steve”.
Suddenly Eddie broke out into a crooked grin, “Wow, if you told me a year ago that I, Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson, would be on a first name basis with King Steve, I’d tell you to get lost. Has the world turned on its axis, is the apocalypse nearing? Eddie said with a fake swoon. Lucas was definitely right, he could see that Dustin’s new flare for the dramatics was clearly a result of spending too much time around Eddie.
“Oh fuck off man” Steve said playfully, “I was definitly a dick back then, but I wasn’t that bad”. Even as he said it, he didn’t fully convince himself. He has a lot of guilt surrounding his past, especially considering his closest friends are exactly the type of people he would have made fun of back then.
“Hmm, I never had an issue with you personally, but you were pretty bad man”.
“Yeah fair enough, but I promise I’m not that guy anymore, in fact, I despise that guy” Steve replied, trying his best to convince Eddie. He didn’t know why, but for some reason he really wanted Eddie to like him.
“Hey dude, take a breath, I was just fucking around, I didn’t mean to touch a nerve” Eddie said in an oddly tender manor. Steve was leaning against the wall and Eddie slid beside him, they were probably a foot apart, but for some reason Steve’s breath hitched, “I’m not so proud of some of my past decisions either, hell even a lot of my current decisions are questionable, but it’s all about who you are now, in this moment.” he smiled genuinely, and it somehow made Steve feel at ease, “You know, when the kids first mentioned ‘Steve’ I had no idea they were talking about the ‘Steve Harrington’, and when they told me you were letting us host Hellfire here, I didn’t believe them. But, as hesitant as I was to come here, I trust Dustin’s judgment. The way he talks about you, well, you can just tell you’ve made a huge impact on his life, and that’s admirable”.
Steve turned to look at Eddie, who in turn gave him a toothy grin. “You know you’re not anything like I thought you’d be Eddie”.
“Been thinking a lot about me Harrington?” Eddie called while sauntering out of the room.
“Oh fuck off” Steve yelled after him amused.
Eddie popped his head back in the doorway, “Gonna help me carry the rest of my stuff in or what big boy?”
Steve tried to play off his surprise with a cough, but he followed him out to the van in a stunned silence.
Steve left Eddie to set up everything, and he spent the next hour and a half puttering around the house. He finally decided to check up on him at around 5:45, and he found him lighting candles with his pocket lighter.
“You know I was skeptical, but I’ve got to say you’ve really transformed the place, I’m sure the kids will feel like they’re a part of Vector’s cult” Steve said, truly impressed with Eddie’s transformation of his dining room.
“It’s Vecna, and they’re going up against his cult but close enough, Harri- Steve” he said catching himself, “You know I don’t mess around when setting up my ‘nerd meetings’ ”. He teased.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. I may not understand your nerd shit, but I think it’s really cool that you're so passionate about it” Steve said sincerely. Seeing Eddie talk about his DnD stuff with such enthusiasm really made Steve’s heart ache partly because he doesn’t have something of his own that he’s that passionate about, but there was also some other reason that he couldn’t quite place. Once again he tried to ignore these thoughts “Well, anyway Nance should be getting here with the kids soon”
Eddie’s eyes widened at this, “Woah! I didn’t know you and Wheeler were still together, I thought you broke up your Senior year. I thought she started dating that Byers kid?” Eddie asked, but there was something off about him now, it almost sounded like disappointment?
Steve rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Nah it’s not like that, we’ve been broken up for a while, and her and Johnathan are together, and pretty serious. I guess we're ‘friends’ but we don’t really talk often. You know it’s funny, for a while I thought that eventually we were gonna get back together, and like have a picket fence and ride off into the sunset or whatever. But I’ve done a lot of reflecting recently, and I’ve realized our relationship wasn’t as perfect as I made it seem in my head. Yeah, I made a lot of mistakes that drove her away, but she wasn’t right for me either. I really am over her though, but no one seems to believe me. They say I’m ‘heartbroken’ because I haven’t been in a relationship since”.
A lot of what Steve had said he hadn’t even talked to Robin about, everyone just thought that Nancy was too sore of a subject to talk about, but honestly it felt good to get it off his chest. “Well it’s gotta be weird for them to see King Steve single” Eddie replied, trying to bring back some lightheartedness.
“Ugh I hated that nickname then but it’s even worse now. But yeah, Henderson has got it in his head that me and Robin are secretly in love, which trust me, is way off base”.
That made Eddie lose it, “Ha! Unless you magically grow a pair of tits and grow out your hair that’s got zero chance of happening” he joked.
Steve froze. Did Eddie know? Was he going to expose her? Was it Steve’s fault he knew? “No, no I don't know what your- she’s not. She just-”
“Relax Steve, I already knew” something about the tone of his voice soothed Steve’s fears, but he was still confused.
“How? Did she tell you? I didn’t know you knew each other.”.
“Nah, she didn’t tell me, but us queers have a weird way of figuring each other out” Eddie replied nonchalantly, with that pen cap once again in his goddamn mouth.
The comment made Steve’s stomach do another flip, I mean he definitely didn’t have an issue with it, so why does knowing Eddie is gay make him so nervous?
“Cool, cool, that’s great! I mean uh, good job? Er- I mean, I’m not good with this stuff man”.
Eddie laughed and walked towards the door patting Steve on the shoulder as he walked past “Thanks for your support Steve-O”.
“Where’re you going?”
“The kids are here, didn’t you hear the knock?”.
He most definitely did not, Steve was practically in his own bubble at the moment, “Uh yeah, they’re all yours Eddie, I’m gonna head upstairs for a bit. Oh, and tell Henderson to keep the language to a minimum”.
Steve wasn’t sure why Eddie wouldn’t get out of his head, as much as he tried to focus on something else upstairs, part of him wanted to go down and see what was happening. He managed to stop himself from doing so, until the pizza arrived, at around 7:30.
“Pizza is here nerds” Steve called from the kitchen.
“Steve!” yelled Dustin from the other room, he ran up to him, and they did a shortened version of their handshake, “Thanks again for this man, your house is wayyy better than the school”.
“Yeah, yeah, well don’t get used to it, I’m not giving up my house every weekend”.
Lucas followed and nodded to Steve in acknowledgement before beelining towards the pizza. The two older members, who he assumed were Jeff and Gareth, followed.
Steve made his way into the dining room to find Mike and Eddie talking in hushed voices. “Thanks Eddie” he heard Mike say.
“No problem kid. Like I said, come to me with any issues, I’ve dealt with jerks like that plenty of times”. Mike turned to see Steve and then shuffled off embarrassed.
Steve replaced Mike’s seat next to Eddie, “You know, Mike might be my least favorite, but if anyone is giving him trouble I won't hesitate to beat up a freshman”.
That earned a laugh from Eddie, “You know as a mother, I don’t think you’re supposed to pick favorites,”.
“God, I don’t even know how that started, but I’m beginning to accept my fate as a mother of six”.
“Six?”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ve heard about the other three, or will hear about them soon, they’re a tight knit crew. Even though two of them are across the country. But don’t distract me from the issue at hand, who’s bothering Mike?”.
“Sorry, that’s confidential information, but I will tell you that I’ll be keeping a close eye on him, and I’m willing to step in if necessary. But I’ve learned from experience that pushback, especially from outside forces, makes it worse. They’ll just start to corner him, I’d rather help him from a distance”. Steve’s heart ached, not just for Mike, but for a younger Eddie.
“I’m glad you’re looking out for them, it’s funny, I was initially jealous that the kids had another older role model. But now I’m just really glad they have you. You’re a great guy Eddie” Steve subconsciously put his hand over Eddie’s.
“You’re not too bad yourself Harrington” Eddie leaned in a bit closer, and despite his better judgment, Steve didn’t back away.
“Steve, call me Steve, remember?”.
Eddie’s eyes flicked down to his lips, and Steve froze in place, “Sorry, Steve ”.
The way he said his name caused him to have another internal panic, but all of a sudden they were interrupted by a gasp across the room. They jumped apart and turned to see Dustin staring between the two of them in confusion. He seemed to come to some sort of epiphany and he smirked knowingly at Eddie, who flipped him the bird. Dustin then turned to Steve, “Lot’s of things are making sense, I need to talk to Robin!”.
“He needs to talk to Robin? I need to talk to Robin!” Steve muttered.
“Talk to her about what Stevie” Eddie teased.
“I- I- don’t exactly know. Um, I have to show up to work early tomorrow, so I’m gonna go to sleep! Lock the front door when you go to take them home” Steve rambled, making his way to the stairs.
“Hey, wait, thanks again. Don’t tell the kids, but I was gonna move the campaign regardless, I know how important that game was to Lucas. But anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is, you didn’t have to give up your home on a Sunday, and I want to make it up to you. So swing by my place after your shift tomorrow, and we can smoke together, and whatever you use is on the house!”
Despite his current confusion the offer was extremely tempting. (For the weed of course not for another chance to see Eddie).“Yeah, yeah okay, sounds great, good, my shift ends at 4, what’s your address?”.
“Just head to the trailer park, and look for the only trailer with a hot metal head sitting out front, '' Eddie said smugly.
“Alright um, I’ll see you then?”.
“See ya then, Steve ”. Steve then hurried his way upstairs and ignored Dustin’s calls after him. He really needed to talk to Robin.