Archive of Our Own

Steve sits up straight at his desk as the loud bang brings him out of his just-about-to-fall-asleep stupor. He tries to figure out what made the noise without being too obvious about it since Mrs. Devereaux seems to be watching him. He gives her his I’m-paying-attention smile and her gaze moves over to someone in the next row and behind Steve and she frowns. Steve glances back and it’s Billy Hargrove, who is giving her a cocky look along with a shrug as he picks up his book which apparently fell on the floor. Mrs. Devereaux narrows her eyes at Billy but doesn’t say anything and goes back to talking about Edgar Allen Poe.

Steve eyes Billy until Billy suddenly meets Steve’s gaze with a searching look that makes Steve uneasy. Steve faces forward and doesn’t even try to pay attention, instead wondering about Billy. Billy has been very cautious around Steve since that night. Billy only ever passes on necessary information to Steve like basketball plays or when Max is supposed to be home, and doesn’t sneer at Steve anymore, though he still makes fun of him sometimes, though not cutting like before. Billy is also very careful not to make any sort of contact with Steve, except for during basketball practice. Billy still plays aggressively and fouls Steve some, but he’s much less violent about it. But Steve has caught Billy just watching Steve, looking like he’s trying to solve a puzzle or something. At first Steve, had thought that was related to Billy finding out about all the monsters and shit, but he never looked at anyone else involved like he looked at Steve. Steve doesn’t figure anything out about Billy, but at least it keeps him awake until the bell.

Mrs. Devereaux stops him before he leaves class and asks if everything is okay at home. He reassures her that he’s just been having some trouble sleeping because of bad dreams. He doesn’t even have to sell it because it’s true, in its own way. She lets him go, but warns him that his parents may get a call if he falls asleep in class. He nods, but can’t help but wonder if the school could even reach his parents, and if so, if they would even say anything. Steve makes it through the next class, his last of the day. He’s moving slowly enough that he’s the last out after the bell, now he just has to get through practice before he can head home. Except when he finally makes his way out the classroom, Nancy, Jonathan, and Billy are in the hall.

Nancy and Jonathan are standing across from Billy. Nancy is glaring at Billy with her arms crossed over her chest. Billy seems like he’s kind of enjoying her anger, if his smirk is anything to go by. Jonathan is hanging back some, standing to Nancy’s left and a little behind her, looking a little bit like he wants to disappear. Then everyone’s attention swings to Steve.

“Hey,” Jonathan says quietly after a long moment.

“Hi?” Steve says, really unsure what is going on.

“Steve,” Nancy says, looking like she did when she was ready to bulldoze something or someone.

“Nance,” Steve says warily.

“This needs to stop, you need to get some sleep,” Nancy says.

Well, yes, he does, but her pretty much ordering him to makes him feel like doing the opposite. “Do I?” Steve asks in his laziest, cockiest voice.

“Holy shit, King Steve isn’t dead!” Billy exclaims, cackling.

Nancy glares over at Billy for a second before turning her gaze back to Steve. “Steve, you look really tired, like you haven’t slept in days, you’re moving slowly, and you’ve fallen asleep in class three times in the-“

“Five,” Billy interjects.

This time it’s not a glare Nancy throws at Billy, but a puzzled look.

“Five times,” Billy repeats.

Steve has no idea how Billy knows that, they only share a couple of classes. Steve isn’t surprised that Nancy knows about some of it, not only does she know a lot of people from all the different committees she’s been on and societies she’s in, but he knows some people have made it a point to sort of report on him to her.

Nancy looks back at Steve. “You’ve fallen asleep in class five times in the past few days. You look dead on your feet.”

Steve knows that not getting enough sleep is probably causing him to lose his temper more easily, but all of a sudden, he’s so annoyed. “Are you my girlfriend?” Steve demands.

Nancy rears back. “What? Steve, I, we-“

“I didn’t think so, since you started sleeping with Jonathan, but maybe I’m wrong. I’m wrong a lot. I don’t think I am this time though. I think you are not my girlfriend and so you do not get to do this,” Steve says loudly.

Nancy looks kind of stung, but also like she’s gearing up to say something.

“I have practice,” Steve says.

“Practice is cancelled,” Billy says, distracted, eyes darting between Nancy and Steve, a smile on his face like he’s watching a good show.

“What?” Steve asks, confused. He’s pretty sure he can count on one hand how many times Coach has cancelled practice.

Billy shrugs, but seems really amused. “The gym got flooded. Somehow.”

“The gym got flooded?” Steve asks slowly. That just seems really weird to him. He’s got to get some sleep because he can’t even come up with any way there could be enough water that it would be a real problem.

“Someone turned on all the showers and plugged up the drains in the locker rooms. Some sort prank, I guess. Kids these days.” Billy shakes his head.

Steve’s not sure why, but there’s something about Billy that makes Steve think he’s really proud of himself. “…Okay. I’m just going to go then.”

“Home. To sleep, right?” Nancy presses.

Steve clenches his teeth, resisting the urge to yell. If he does, this might end in tears - probably Steve’s. He just turns on his heel and walks away. Nancy calls after him, but he doesn’t stop. Jonathan says something he can’t make out, then Billy, and then Steve can hear the sounds of Nancy and Billy bickering as Steve finally reaches the right hallway and turns.

~~~

Steve feels a little better. He did get some sleep last night, enough so that he wasn’t falling asleep in class, but not really enough to not feel tired. He didn’t sleep as well as he should have, maybe in anticipation of dreams that never came or maybe just because he was a little worried. Anyway, it’s Friday and school’s over, halleluiah. It’s been a really long day of ignoring and avoiding Nancy, Jonathan, and Billy. The Tigers usually don’t have basketball practice unless there’s a Friday game, then they have a short one before the game. There’s no game today, though even if one had been scheduled, the gym’s still pretty messed up. Coach is livid. Steve hopes it gets fixed enough for Monday or they’ll probably commandeer the middle school gym, which smells terrible. Steve makes for his car and is almost there when Jonathan catches up to him.

Steve turns to look at him and Jonathan has his hands up, trying to look harmless or something. “What?” Steve asks tiredly.

“Sorry, I was just wondering if you could pick up Will at the arcade about five and bring him home,” Jonathan says apologetically.

“Oh. Yeah, I can do that,” Steve says, he should check in on Will anyway. “But if I show up, the others will want rides too, so it might take a little while to get Will home.”

“That’s okay. Um, thanks and sorry, hope it’s not too much trouble,” Jonathan says, looking a little guilty.

Steve shrugs.

“Well, um, see you later.”

“Bye.” Steve gets in his car, wondering if it’s the Nancy thing that’s making Jonathan nervous since Steve had brought it up yesterday because Jonathan seems awfully twitchy today.

~~~

Steve should have known it was a set-up. Now, Mrs. Byers is trying to gently interrogate him at the Byers’ kitchen table while Nancy, Jonathan, and Billy look on. Steve has no idea how Billy came to be here, but if Steve had to guess from Nancy’s glares, he’d say Billy invited himself along.

Steve tries to brush off their concern. “I’m fine, Mrs. Byers, just a little tired. Just dreams, you know.”

Mrs. Byers smiles patiently at him. “From what Jonathan says, it’s more serious than that.”

Steve sends a glare his way, but though Jonathan still looks a little guilty, he also looks determined.

Mrs. Byers lays a careful hand on Steve’s arm. “Steve, we just want to help.”

Steve puts his head down on the table.

“It’s my fault,” Will says in a small voice.

Steve sits up and looks over to the entryway where Will is hovering anxiously. “It’s not. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Will gives a skeptical look.

Steve can’t exactly blame him, with all these people standing around looking worried. Especially since Will was already kind of worried about how it’s affecting Steve. And after Steve spent the time on the ride here reassuring Will that it was okay. “Look, it’s actually my fault. I told you I can handle it and I can. I was just being stupid about it, thinking I didn’t have to change anything.”

“But I’m causing it. Well, me and El. We can stop, figure something else out,” Will says, looking a little sick.

“Yeah, you tried that already. Look, Will, it’s just a stupid thing for me. I hate naps, from when I was a kid. I was just being stubborn about not taking any. You don’t have to stop. I’ll take naps, catch up on my sleep,” Steve says, knowing everybody else is listening intently and trying to understand what they’re talking about. It’s important, though, that Will understands that Steve’s really okay with this, that Will isn’t causing any harm.

“Okay, what is going on?” Mrs. Byers asks firmly, voice trembling just a little with fear.

Will grimaces and fidgets. “You know how I was having really bad dreams right after… right after.”

Mrs. Byers’ nods.

Will bites his lip, then says, “I know you think they went away, but they didn’t really. It was bad and you were so worried, so I asked El and she tried something and it worked.”

“What did, honey?” Mrs. Byers asks.

“El pulled someone into my dreams and he helped me fight all the bad things off and they wouldn’t come back until the next night,” Will says.

Everybody then looks at Steve, who nods. “Yep, I’m not a bad dream warrior.”

“But I guess pulling Steve into my dreams kind of keeps him from having his own dreams or it’s not really like he’s sleeping or something,” Will says, frowning.

Steve shrugs, he has no idea how it actually works. “So, yeah, I just need some sleep before that and I’ll be fine.”

Mrs. Byers looks like she’s not really sure what to do with all of this. She gives Will a sad smile. “I wish you’d told me.”

“I didn’t want to worry you,” Will says. “You’ve been worried enough about me.”

“That’s my job,” Mrs. Byers says.

Steve wonders if his mother has ever felt that way about him.

“Could Eleven do it with anyone? Pull anyone into your dreams?” Nancy asks Will, looking curious.

“Um, yeah. But Steve’s the best,” Will says.

“But somebody else could work, right? So Steve could sleep?” Billy cuts in.

“Um…well, El can pull whoever she wants as long as they are also asleep,” Will says uneasily.

“It’s fine, we’re good. I’ve just got to adjust,” Steve says.

“But if someone else will work, then you don’t have to do it all the time,” Nancy says reasonably.

Will shifts uncomfortably.

“Would someone else work?” Mrs. Byers says.

“Probably not,” Steve says, just to save Will from having to say it. “They tried with, uh, others and it didn’t really work that well.”

“We could try again,” Will says. “Maybe it will be better.”

“Maybe,” Steve says, trying not to sound as doubtful as he feels.

“Oh,” Billy says, like he’s figured something out. “You tried all of them, didn’t you? Your friends and family? And they sucked. That’s what you’re trying so hard not say, right?”

“They just, Steve’s the best,” Will says awkwardly.

Honestly, Steve really likes hearing that and Will’s said it twice now, but Will is struggling, so Steve tries to downplay it. “It’s just a weird thing that I happen to be good at. Just had my dream monsters and figured out how to fight them.”

“We were bad at it?” Jonathan asks hesitantly, looking like he wants to apologize.

Will hugs himself. “You kind of ignored them, I don’t think you could even see them. Um, and Nancy just charged after them, left me behind, and then they always came back. El just sort blows them away, it’s just kind of a knee-jerk reaction for her, and then they come back. Mom tried to get in between me and them and it just didn’t work. Dustin tried to build something, some sort trap, but it took too long. Mike got angry and that sort of made everything worse. Max made fun of them, which didn’t work. Lucas grabbed me and we ran and hid, which sort of worked, but it was really tiring.”

“And what does Steve do?” Billy asks, leaning in.

Will flashes Billy a wary look, but answers, “Steve helps me fight, he helps until I can fight on my own and defeat them myself.”

“And that’s what works?” Nancy asks curiously.

Steve shoots a look at her. “Well, yeah. They’re his monsters. He has to be the one to win against them or they won’t go away.”

Will nods. “Plus Steve is the only one besides El that seems to really understand that it’s a dream.”

Everyone looks over at Steve and he shrugs. “A bad thing happened when I was younger. I had bad dreams and I kind of learned how to deal with them.”

“A bad thing? A bad thing like the bad things that have happened here lately?” Nancy asks.

Steve looks at her, disbelieving. “Oh, sure, ‘cause it really seemed like I knew what the hell was going on when you pulled a gun on me, right?”

Then everyone looks at Nancy, except for Jonathan, who is cringing a little behind her.

“Right, sorry,” Nancy says to Steve, then looks at the others and says, “There was a Demogorgon, I was trying to make him go away, he didn’t go and helped fight instead. Didn’t we go over this, back then?”

“I think some parts got left out,” Mrs. Byers says faintly.

“Damn,” Billy says, looking between Nancy and Steve and seeming equally impressed with both of them.

“Will, honey, maybe you should stay up tonight and let Steve sleep,” Mrs. Byers says, ignoring the byplay.

Steve and Will look at each and Steve can read the same sort of panic on Will’s face that Steve is feeling. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” Steve says, his voice coming out a little thin. “Will already did that last night, anyway.”

Mrs. Byers says, “Will, come here,” and gestures him to a seat at the table.

Will trudges reluctantly over and sits next to Steve.

“Is it worse, if you’re tired?” Mrs. Byers asks gently.

“So much,” Will says feelingly.

“It really is,” Steve says, shuddering just thinking about it. It’s going to be bad enough tonight, but after two nights in a row, it would be hell. “I can just go home and get a couple of hours now and then sleep in tomorrow. Then I’ll figure out a schedule for the week.”

Will looks miserably down at the table.

Steve nudges Will so he looks up at Steve. “Hey, it will be fine. It won’t be forever, it’s been getting better. It has. A few more weeks and you won’t need me anymore.”

“You think so?” Will asks hopefully.

“Yeah, I do,” Steve says confidently. “I think that after you’re ready to fight them on your own, they’ll mostly be gone. You might get one every once in a while after that, but nothing like this.”

“That would be good,” Will says, a little shakily.

“Yeah, it would,” Steve says with a smile.

Will suddenly throws his arms around Steve. “Thanks.”

“Uh, no problem,” Steve manages, trying not let on how startled he is by the hug.

Will lets go as quickly as he latched on.

~~~

Steve sighs as two cars pull up behind him after he pulls into his driveway. It’s a good thing the driveway is so big. Steve is pretty sure Billy would just park on the lawn otherwise and Steve would definitely hear from his father about that. Steve hustles himself out of his car and to the front door, trying to make it inside before Billy or Nancy or Jonathan can get to him, but he’s not quick enough and only manages to unlock the door before Nancy’s on the porch with him, Billy not far behind. Steve doesn’t open the door, instead turning to fully face whatever this is now. He waits for Jonathan to make his way up to them all before saying anything.

Steve takes a deep breath. “Is there something else? Didn’t your ambush get you the answers you wanted?” It comes out sounding more hostile than Steve had meant to be, maybe he’s more annoyed than he’d thought.

Nancy crosses her arms. “Steve, we’re,” she pauses and eyes Billy for a second before frowning a little and going on, “all of us are worried about you.”

Steve isn’t sure he really gets that, but okay. “Alright, you’re worried about me.” Steve doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say to that, so he tries, “Thanks for telling me, I guess.”

And it seems like, from their faces, none of them know what to do with that.

“Look, I’m really tired and I don’t understand what you want from me. You were there when I explained what the problem was and what I was going to do to fix it. So, um, sorry, but you can stop worrying. Or live with it, I guess.”

Billy snorts.

Nancy sets her jaw. "Steve, we want to help. You said you have trouble taking naps, so we want to make sure you can sleep."

Steve stares at her. "That's not what I said."

Billy cuts in. "You said you don't like them. Why? Those nightmares you talked about bother you?"

Steve can't figure out what this is. "What? Why?"

"If you have nightmares, one of us can wake you," Jonathan says quietly.

Oh, now Steve gets it. "I can take care of myself, I've been doing it for a long time. I was just being stubborn, like I said. I don't need someone to babysit, make sure I get my sleep."

Nancy looks like she's trying not to yell. "It's not babysitting. We just-"

Billy interrupts, "So, is it nightmares?"

Steve looks at him, distracted. "No. Those were a different thing."

"Then what? Someone bother you during them?" Billy asks insistently.

Steve eyes Billy, pretty sure he doesn't want to give Billy anything more to make fun of Steve with. But Billy really doesn't look like he's going to let this go. Steve sighs. "My parents left me behind."

All three look confused at that.

"You mean they didn't take you on trips with them when you were younger because you needed naps?" Nancy tries.

"Oh, no, that probably would have been better. No, they took me with them on a trip and left while I was taking a nap."

"Left the hotel?" Jonathan asks softly.

"Yeah. And the country," Steve says dully.

"What?" Billy and Nancy say loudly at the same time.

"They forgot I was with them, packed up and left for their next planned visit. I'm not sure how long it took them to remember, but I was with the police until the next day. I thought I was being arrested for being there without my parents when the hotel called the police, 'cause I didn't know much Italian." Steve hates thinking about how scared he was then.

Nancy looks shocked. "They just left you there, by yourself?"

"Yeah, they promised it would never happen again, but it did. Home, though, that time. And after how annoyed my dad was about the hotel and police the last time, I didn’t want to ask anyone for help. So, I just figured out how to feed myself until they remembered. Anyway, that’s when I decided I didn’t like naps. If I was awake when they decided to leave, I could remind them they needed to do something to take care of me.” Steve gives them a smile because it is funny in a way. “If only so the neighbors didn’t talk.”

None of the three of them look like they think it is in any way funny. Jonathan kind of looks like he wants to cry, though that’s maybe just how he looks when he’s really upset, because Steve has seen him look like that a few times, but never actually cry, even when he probably has pretty good reasons to. Nancy looks like she can’t understand any of it. And Billy is frowning, looking like he’s trying figure something out.

“My old man is kind of a nightmare sometimes, but that may be worse,” Billy finally says. He turns to Nancy, “What the hell is wrong with this place? There’s not only the weird evil shit, but then there’s this other terrible shit that is all over the place – most of the people around here don’t care when someone isn’t being taken care of, or goes missing, or gets beaten up, or dies. What is that?”

Nancy looks at Billy with narrowed eyes and for a second Steve is sure she is going to yell at Billy for trying to make out like it’s her fault somehow. Then she gets a thoughtful look and says, “Maybe they’re connected.”

Steve is not following this at all. “What’s connected?”

“The ‘weird evil’… stuff and the other terrible stuff. Like if a big company dumped chemicals and it contaminated the ground water in the area and the people there started getting sick,” Nancy explains.

Steve frowns. “Like the Upside Down, like, leaked into Hawkins or something?”

Nancy shrugs. “If it affected people’s emotions, it would explain the profound apathy that so many people around here seem to have.” Steve must look confused because she explains, “A deep… not-caring.”

“Huh,” Steve says, thinking about how he hadn’t really thought much about it when Will had disappeared and how hard it had been at first to understand why Nancy was so upset about Barb, what it had taken to really get how bad things were. “Yeah, okay.”

“It doesn’t, like, excuse your parents or anything, especially since they don’t seem to spend much time here, but maybe it explains why other people haven’t really noticed anything,” Nancy says.

Steve shrugs. He’s not really sure he’d want most people to notice and feel sorry for him, since he doesn’t think they could actually do much about it other than that. “So, anyway, I’m going to go inside and sleep. You can all go now.” Steve opens the door and steps inside, turning to close it, but Billy barrels his way inside, Nancy following quickly. Steve sighs, yeah, he didn’t think it was going to be that easy. He looks at Jonathan, who is still standing on the porch. “You’re not coming in?”

Jonathan seems uncomfortable. He looks past Steve to where Nancy and Billy are arguing about something in the hall. Jonathan looks a little apologetic and a little guilty as he slides his gaze to meet Steve’s and says, “Just barging in seems kind of rude.”

Steve glances behind him, then turns back. “It does, doesn’t it? You might as well come on in. At least you’re pretty quiet.” Steve smirks. “Unless you think we can make a run for it.”

Weirdly, it looks like Jonathan’s considering it. Then he shakes his head. “Nah, Billy’s car would catch up too quick. He’d run us off the road. Then Nancy would lecture us for running and him for that.”

Steve thinks that’s probably true, with Billy’s temper and Nancy’s sureness that she’s right, so he nods. Jonathan comes in and Steve closes the door behind him. Steve steps around Nancy and Billy, who are still arguing, and it’s about what sounds like a movie, except Steve is pretty sure he would have heard of a movie with Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson squaring off against Dirty Harry for Princess Leia.

Steve heads for the living room and just pitches forward when he reaches the couch arm, laying face down lengthwise, with his feet hanging off over the arm.

“That doesn’t seem very comfortable,” says Jonathan after a few seconds.

“No,” Steve says into the couch cushions.

“You could maybe scoot up so your feet are on the couch,” Jonathan says.

Steve sighs and turns his head to the side to look at Jonathan. “I have shoes on and shoes aren’t allowed on the furniture.”

“You could take them off?” Jonathan offers hesitantly.

Steve groans. “Effort.”

Jonathan gets up and Steve vaguely wonders where he’s going. Maybe he’ll take Nancy and Billy and leave. Right, that seems likely. Steve starts a little when he feels tugging at his left foot, then the shoe comes off, followed by the right one. “You want your socks off, too?” Jonathan’s voice asks.

“Um, yeah, I guess.”

Steve’s socks are taken off and he pulls his feet onto the couch and wiggles a bit, scooting his head up to rest on a pillow next to the other arm of the couch. “Thanks,” Steve says.

Jonathan comes around and says, “If you sit up, we can get your jacket off, if you want.”

“You know, it may not seem like it lately, but I can take care of myself.”

Jonathan kind of looks like he wants to argue, but just says, “Sometimes it’s nice to let someone else help you.”

Steve huffs out a breath and heaves himself up into a sitting position, but then immediately starts to tip over to the side because of the headrush. “Whoa.”

Jonathan grabs him by the shoulders and steadies him, but then doesn’t let go. Jonathan has a serious face as he looks at Steve and doesn’t say anything.

“I’m good, man. Just a little dizzy.”

“Thank you.”

Steve is confused. “What?”

“You’ve been helping Will all this time, when others couldn’t, when I couldn’t. You didn’t have to, but you did it, even though it’s cost you. So, thank you.”

“Oh, geez, it’s just some sleep. It’s not a big deal.”

“It isn’t just some sleep. And it’s a huge deal,” Jonathan says intensely.

Steve is blushing and really not sure what to say to that.

Jonathan clears his throat. “Let’s get you out of that.” He helps Steve get his jacket off, being really careful with Steve.

Steve blinks back the tears that are suddenly threatening. It’s a problem for him sometimes when emotions get high and it’s been a long time since someone took such care with him. He lays back down, feeling totally worn down in a way that has nothing to do with not getting enough sleep.

Jonathan grabs the throw off the back of the couch and covers Steve with it. Then he sits in the chair catty-corner and looks at Steve.

Steve frowns. “Are you just going to sit there and watch me sleep?”

“I had been planning on it, but that way you said it makes it sound sort of creepy.”

“Because it is.”

“It was Nancy’s plan,” Jonathan says, not seeming to feel any guilt for letting her take the blame, though she is still arguing with Billy out in the hall, so maybe that’s why. “But it was mostly because we thought you might need some to wake you up or stand guard. Now, we can just stick around, be here when you wake up.”

Steve eyelids are drooping and he knows he makes some sort of noise in reply, not sure if Jonathan will take it as agreement, not sure if Steve wants him to. If he doesn’t actually say anything, maybe it won’t hurt as much if it doesn’t happen. But Steve still can’t quite let go of his hope as he slips into sleep.

~~~

Steve wakes up a little disoriented. He looks around, the living room is pretty dim since none of lights are on in it, but the hall light is on, so he can see okay. No one is in the room watching him, which is a relief. But the house doesn’t feel still and echoing the way it does when it’s just him. He thinks he can hear something from the kitchen or maybe the dining room. He wonders if they all stayed.

Steve stretches and yawns. He still feels tired, but not dragging with it like he was. He heads to the downstairs bathroom. After he’s peed and washed his hands, he stares at his reflection for a minute. He splashes some water on his face and runs his hands through his hair and calls it good enough. He heads for the kitchen, yawning. He ducks his head in the dining room when he hears voices. Nancy, Jonathan, and Billy are all sitting at the table. Playing a card game. Steve shakes his head, whatever the hell is going on with these three has not gotten less confusing. “I’m going to make some dinner, are you all staying?”

All three look up at him in surprise.

“You don’t need to feed us,” Jonathan says.

“You still look tired, we can make… or go get something for you,” Nancy says, looking like she wants to push Steve into a chair.

“We’re staying. I’m always up for something good, you got something good, Steve?” Billy says with a smirk, eyeing Steve up and down.

Steve frowns at Billy, sure he’s making fun of Steve in some way. Steve just heads for the kitchen.

Steve quickly goes about pan-frying up some pork chops and vegetables, making about twice as much as he usually would, since when he makes dinner he usually makes enough for leftovers for the next day. It’s only as he’s putting everything on plates that he realizes this is the first time he’s ever cooked dinner for anyone else. He’d helped out Nancy’s mother a few times when they’d been dating and he’d helped Dustin make brownies for a bake sale, but he’d never made dinner for anyone but himself.

It isn’t like this is going to let them in on any big secret, like he hasn’t already told the three of them about his parents leaving him alone so much. Still, he feels a little weird about it. He shrugs it off and carries a couple of plates out to the dining room. He sets them down then goes back for the other two, then silverware and napkins, and finally, glasses of water. He’s aware of the three of them just watching him do all of it, but he ignores it. Until he can’t anymore. “So is rudeness also infecting Hawkins?” Steve asks as he settles into a seat at the table. Then he thinks about that for a few seconds. “That would explain a lot about Mike.”

“Hey!” Nancy protests.

Billy snorts and Nancy glares at him. “For a ‘good’ kid, he is kind of mean.”

“Like you have room to talk!” Nancy says.

Billy doesn’t look at all insulted. “That just means I know what I’m talking about.”

“Sorry,” Jonathan says to Steve. “This is good,” he says, gesturing to his plate.

Steve’s not entirely sure whether he’s apologizing for staring or for the other two. “Thanks.”

Nancy seems to have just decided it’s not worth arguing with Billy, about this, for now, and turns to Steve. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Would a ‘no’ stop you?” Steve asks.

Nancy purses her lips. “Probably not,” she admits, seeming a little annoyed with herself.

Steve huff out a little surprised laugh. “Go for it, then,” Steve says, bracing himself for questions about his parents, or why he didn’t ask for help, or more about what happens in Will’s dreams, none of which he really wants to answer.

“Did anyone help you fight your monsters?” Nancy asks.

That was not what Steve was expecting. “Nope,” Steve says with a shrug, “Figured it out myself.”

Nancy reaches over and squeezes his hand. “I wish you’d had someone really great and caring to help you,” she says with a sad smile, looking almost like she wants to cry. “It’s good that Will has someone like that to help him.”

“Yeah, Mrs. Byers is pretty awesome,” Steve says.

“She is, but that’s not who I was talking about,” Nancy says.

Steve frowns and looks over at Jonathan.

“She’s talking about you,” Jonathan says.

Steve looks back at Nancy, who nods. “Thanks,” he mumbles.

Nancy gives a happier smile and squeezes his hand again before letting go.

Steve looks to Billy who has been suspiciously quiet for a while and finds him staring at Steve. “What?” Steve asks.

“You have to have everything laid out for you, don’t you, Princess?” Billy asks.

“I’m not the smartest guy, so yeah, I like it when people actually say what the hell they actually mean,” Steve says, annoyed.

Billy looks surprised. “Well, Jesus, Harrington, I can’t even argue with that when you put it that way.”

“Whatever,” Steve says as he finishes his food.

“So, here’s the thing, I want you and so do Nancy Drew and her Hardy Boy, here,” Billy says.

Steve just blinks for a long moment then puts down his fork. “Like, want, like to date, or just, you know, have sex.”

“Sex,” Billy says at the same time Nancy says “Date.” They turn narrowed eyes on each other.

Then Jonathan chimes in with, “Both.” Nancy and Billy turn to look at him and he just looks back, seeming totally sure of himself.

“Fine, both,” Billy says, sounding kind of annoyed.

“Yes, both,” Nancy agrees shortly.

“Huh,” Steve says. “I’ve never really thought about dating a guy… or a couple before.”

Billy grins suddenly and lick his lips. “But you have thought about having sex with a guy… or a couple before?” he asks smugly, his pause sounding like he’s mocking Steve.

Steve frowns at him. “Well…” he trails off, thinking about how to answer that without telling anyone else’s secrets.

Billy’s eyes go wide. “Shit, you haven’t just thought about it, have you? You’ve actually had sex with a guy.”

“Not like, all the way or anything, but I’ve done stuff with guys,” Steve says, and then not wanting to leave it out, adds, “…And a couple.”

“Guys, not guy, guys,” Billy states, like he’s accusing Steve of something.

“A couple?” Nancy questions, looking bothered.

“What kind of stuff?” Jonathan asks, not upset like the other two, but seeming very curious.

Steve tilts his head and thinks about what he’s okay with saying. It’s weird because he hasn’t talked about, like, details about sex stuff with anyone that he can remember, not even Nancy. It was mostly, ‘Do you want to…?’, ‘Can I…?’, ‘Is this good?’ with people he’s done stuff with. The sex ed part of Health class was mostly about STDs and avoiding them and pregnancy by just not having sex. His mother had given him two books that had been very clinical about it that he’d forced himself to finish, afraid that otherwise his parents would actually try to talk to him about it. “You know, getting off, with hands and mouths, and, like, rubbing together. And, yeah, more than one guy, two guys, plus the couple.”

Billy seems to be both amused and angry. “Well, it appears King Steve is quite the stud.”

Steve frowns at him, not sure what he’s talking about. “What?”

Billy smiles kind of nastily. “You know, all those girls and these guys.”

“All what girls?”

“Steve, you do have kind of a reputation,” Nancy says, looking a little sorry to be saying it.

Steve laughs. “Are you talking about those rumors at school? Did you, like, actually believe them? You know the other two girls I’ve dated, Nance. And I guess I went with a couple of girls in middle school, but I don’t think I’d call that dating.”

“What about girls you didn’t date, but have ‘done stuff’ with?” Billy demands.

“What, the girl in the couple?” Steve asks, confused.

“But I heard you’d made out with half the girls in the high school,” Jonathan says.

“Oh, that. Yeah, I mean, I’ve kissed probably a lot more than that. I didn’t, like, make out with all of them, though. And I really didn’t have sex with all of them,” Steve says, shaking his head.

Steve starts eating again when everyone is quiet. It lasts until he finishes.

“So, why have you kissed so many girls?” Nancy asks.

Steve looks at her, kind of irritated because he doesn’t get how she doesn’t know. “You were there this year.”

“I… what?” Nancy asks.

“At the school Fun Fair?”

Nancy frowns. “I was there this year, but what…? You were over by the kissing booth.”

“I was in the kissing booth. Third year straight it made the most money, and it’s made more money than the last, every year. They didn’t even ask anyone else to take a shift this year,” Steve says proudly.

“There have been hundreds of girls because the school’s been whoring you out?” Billy asks angrily.

“I just told you, I didn’t-“

“Sorry, I meant, there have been hundreds of girls because the school’s been whoring your lips out?” Billy asks, not as loudly as before, but he still looks pretty mad.

Steve glares, but decides it’s not worth it to argue with Billy over how he put it. “Yeah. And, I guess, the party games too.”

“Lot of Spin the Bottle, then?” Billy asks almost lazily, all of his anger suddenly seeming to disappear. Steve doesn’t trust it.

“Oh, no, not really. Just, you know, whatever game they want to play. I was the prize,” Steve says, smiling.

“You were… the prize?” Jonathan asks.

“Well, a kiss from me was. If a girl won at Twister or Quarters or Never Have I Ever or Chicken or whatever.” Steve turns to Nancy and says, “Though not when I was dating someone.”

“How did we not hear about this?” Jonathan asks.

“You probably did, you just didn’t pay attention to it,” Steve says.

“That one girl, the really cheery one, that came bouncing up to you the other week saying that she won before dragging you off,” Billy says.

“Well, she is a cheerleader, I think that’s a requirement. And yeah, that was what that was about,” Steve says.

Billy shakes his head. “Jesus. So what does all that mean? Do you want to do it, the dating and sex?”

Steve thinks about it. Thinks about what will happen if he says no. Thinks about what will happen if he says yes. It would be a big mistake to go into it expecting it to actually work out. It definitely wouldn’t be boring and he’d probably get some good sex out of it, for as long as it lasted. And he does like dating, having someone around who cares if he’s there or not. But it would have to be kept pretty quiet. The not-caring around town probably wouldn’t cover this. It will end badly, he’s sure, but… “Alright.”

“Alright? Alright to who? Me or Polly Purebred and Underdog, here?” Billy asks, jerking his thumb at Nancy and Jonathan.

“Oh, I thought you meant all of you,” Steve says.

They all look a little shocked at that, and it takes awhile before anyone says anything.

Jonathan blinks and stutters out, “The four of us? Together? Just, uh, wow, that’s, huh.”

Billy seems to shake it off his shock first. “Well? Who are you going to choose?”

Steve stares at him for a long moment. “I guess if I have to choose, I’ll go with neither.”

Billy pushes away from the table, knocking his chair over as he gets up. “Fine!” he growls and stomps out, the sound of the front door slamming a few moments later and then a car revving and tires squealing as he leaves.

Nancy looks like she wants to say something, but stops before she does. Then she says, “Thanks for dinner,” in a very quiet voice.

“Yeah, thanks,” Jonathan echoes.

“You’re welcome,” Steve says.

“Do you need help with the dishes?” Jonathan asks.

“No, I’m fine.”

“We should go,” Nancy says. She gets up, picks up Billy’s dishes and her own and heads for the kitchen.

Jonathan sets the chair Billy knocked over to rights, gathers up his own dishes, and then says very softly, “I could come back, if you wanted someone in the house when you wake up again.”

Steve is touched by the offer, especially with the situation like it is. “I’m good. Thank you, though.”

Jonathan nods and heads to the kitchen, too.

A few minutes later, the house is empty except for Steve. He cleans up and then gets ready for bed and ready for battle.

~~~

Sunday, Steve gets a visit from the kids, complete with a call asking for a good time to come over. It’s pretty worrying, but he decides if another evil thing had shown up, it wouldn’t make them more polite. Probably. He makes sure he knows where his bat is, just in case.

It turns out that Will and El had let everyone know the details, since they had spilled to Mrs. Byers, Jonathan, Nancy, and Billy. The rest of the group had known about Will’s bad dreams and that El and Steve had been helping, but not how.

Steve gets hugs from Dustin, Lucas, and Max. He even gets grudging thanks from Mike. Will doesn’t hug him again, but seems to want to hang out near Steve, he’s a little quiet, but happy enough. El seems really down for some reason, though.

It doesn’t take long for Steve to hear about the cookies they had tried to make for him and their epic failure at it. While most of the party think it’s pretty funny, El seems really unhappy about it. So Steve decides to show them how to make cookies.

Mike quickly gets banned from helping in any way. Lucas is only allowed to measure ingredients. Dustin is forbidden from doing anything involving the oven, which Steve should have remembered from making the brownies. Max doesn’t get to use the stand mixer anymore. They end up with way more cookies than anyone should have, they’ve used all the bowls in the house, there’s flour everywhere, Dustin has two minor burns, and Steve has frosting in his hair. But, El is giggling as she, Will, and Dustin divide up the cookies for everyone to take with them, Max and Lucas are feeding each other bites of cookie, and Mike is actually helping with the cleanup. It’s a pretty good day.

~~~

Steve was able to get some sleep, but he’s still dragging the next day at school. Jonathan catches him before his lunch period. “Oh, God, what?”

Jonathan holds up his hands. “Not an ambush. Though you do still look really tired.”

Steve sighs. It has taken him a while to settle into a nap the last couple of days and he’s been missing a lot of sleep. “Yeah. I guess it’s going to take some time to get a routine going.”

Jonathan nods, looking a little upset. “Can I ask you a question?” he asks, then looks around, “Maybe somewhere a little more private?”

Steve is wary, but shrugs.

Jonathan leads him to the darkroom. Jonathan fidgets a bit, then asks, “Why neither?”

“Do you really think Nancy would just let it go if I chose Billy? Do you think Billy would let it go if I chose you and Nancy? Man, I kept expecting them to throw down.”

Jonathan snorts. “Who do you think would win in a fight?”

“I don’t know, but somebody would probably lose an eye.”

“But you really think all four of us together would work?”

Steve scoffs. “No. It’s a terrible idea. I mean, not just Nancy and Billy, but me and you, me and Nancy, me and Billy. With the way things have gone, I’m not sure how much I can trust any of you not to hurt me. It’s just really not a smart thing to do.”

“If that’s what you think, why would you still want to try?”

“I’m not really a smart person,” Steve says with a small smile.

Jonathan doesn’t look like he thinks that’s funny.

“I like fireworks,” Steve says.

Jonathan looks confused.

Maybe Steve shouldn’t have tried a metaphor, he’s probably got it wrong, but he keeps going. “They don’t last long, and there’s always a chance they will blow up in your face, but they’re pretty cool when they are going off.”

Jonathan gives half-smile. “I guess I can see the explosive potential. So, you just think it would be cool for a while and that’s it?”

Steve takes a deep breath and then blows it out. “I like dating, I like it when there is someone around who cares about what I’m doing and where I am. I like to be a part of something that isn’t just me. And, sure, it wouldn’t last forever, but, really, around here, what does? Also, I think the sex would be good.”

“Oh,” Jonathan says quietly. “You’re probably really good at kissing, too, huh?” he asks.

“Yes. I am. If it’s okay with Nancy, I could show you sometime.”

Jonathan looks at him in surprise.

“Anyway, I’m going to go eat,” Steve says and leaves the darkroom with a wave.

The gym smells kind of damp still, but it’s dry enough that basketball practice actually happens that afternoon. Billy had ignored Steve in class earlier, so Steve had expected more of the same while playing. Instead, it’s just weird, Billy is super-focused on Steve, but not talking to him. Billy gets himself on the same practice team when usually he makes sure he’s playing against Steve. Billy just grunts when Steve thanks him for blocking a stray basketball from hitting Steve in the face.

Steve heads home for a nap. It takes him a long time to wind down enough to sleep. He wonders if there is any way he could invite someone over to be there when he wakes up because he thinks it did help him relax when he thought Jonathan, Nancy and Billy might still be there when he woke up that first time. But he doesn’t really want it to be any of them because Nancy’s being almost as weird as Billy, watching Steve closely when she can, not trying to lecture him, even though he can tell she wants to. Jonathan would probably be okay, and would probably not tell Nancy that he was doing it if Steve asked. Steve doesn’t want to ask that though, since it wouldn’t be great for their relationship. Maybe just getting a routine down will help.

~~~

By Thursday, Steve is ready to admit defeat. A routine helps a little, but not very much. He doesn’t sleep as deeply as he thinks he needs to, his naps easily disturbed by the creaking of the house or a loud car going past. He still doesn’t want to ask Billy, Nancy, or Jonathan, so that leaves the munchkins. He decides on Mike. Mike already has a pretty low opinion of Steve, so it’s not like he’ll think much less of Steve for this.

Surprisingly, Mike doesn’t seem to judge him badly for it. And he’s even on board with keeping what exactly he’s doing at Steve’s a secret, partly due to the fact that Mike, like Steve, doesn’t want Will or El to feel bad about it. They come up with a half-truth that Mike’s over helping Steve with some household stuff.

It helps, someone being there. Steve drifts off quickly and when he wakes up, he feels like he’s had some real sleep.

“Thanks, Mike. I know you don’t like me much, but this really helped me out,” Steve says as he drops Mike off at Dustin’s.

“I didn’t like it when you dated my sister,” Mike says.

“Yeah, I got that.”

“But you helped us all when you didn’t have to and you’re helping Will and El now. I may think you think way too much about your hair, but you’re, you know, a good guy,” Mike says and leaves the car before Steve can say anything.

The next day, when Steve is dropping the rest of the kids home before taking Mike to his place, while the boys are arguing about some D&D thing, Max leans in and softly tells him that Billy’s been asking about him. Steve nods and says that it’s okay. Max raises her eyebrows. Steve says that it’s nothing bad, Billy’s being a little weird about teenage stuff, but not like an angry weird. He’s not sure he convinces her, but she lets it go easily enough.

When it’s just Mike and Steve in the car, Mike says, “You should know Nancy’s also been asking about you.”

So, it seems like Mike heard Max. “Okay.”

Mike is studying him. “And Will says Jonathan has been, too.”

Steve sighs. “Alright, thanks for telling me.”

“So, weird teenage stuff?”

Steve looks over at Mike. “You really want to know?”

Mike makes a face. “No, not really. But…”

“But, what?”

“You guys broke up, why does Nancy care so much?”

“It would be nice if when you realized you weren’t working as a couple, you could just turn off all your feelings for each other, but that’s not usually how it goes. Do you think if, for some reason, you and El broke up, you wouldn’t worry about her or care how she’s doing?”

“Of course I would care!”

“Do you really think your sister’s so different from you?” Steve asks.

Mike looks away. “Sometimes it’s like she might as well be an alien for all I understand her.” Mike slumps a little. “But, no I guess not.”

“I wish I had a brother or a sister.”

“Why?” Mike asks, eyeing Steve like Steve is an alien.

“You really think your life would be better without Nancy or Holly in it?”

“No,” Mike admits a little grudgingly. “Lucas might think that about Erica, though.”

Steve laughs.

~~~

Steve is still tired. He’s not getting near enough sleep, even with the naps. He doesn’t want to get too much because then he doesn’t think he’d be able to get to sleep later so that he can help Will. But it’s so much better than it was. He thinks this will work until Will doesn’t need him any more. Of course, it’s only been a few days, but they’ve been so much more bearable.

Then Mike gets sick. He argues that he can be sick over at Steve’s, which makes Steve think Mike might be sicker than he thought because there is no way Mike’s mom would go for that. Mike seems so upset at the thought of letting Steve down. It’s actually really sweet of the kid, not that Steve will ever, ever say that to him. Instead, Steve tells Mike he’ll be fine for a couple of days and then hijacks El and Will to show them how to make chicken noodle soup to bring to Mike.

~~~

Steve is not fine. It’s only been two days and Steve wants to die. It’s worse than it was before. Steve wakes up at every tiny thing during his naps. Or, well, the things that are pretending to be naps, but are really just Steve lying down, closing his eyes, just starting to drift off, and then being jolted up by the sound of the bushes near the house rustling in the breeze or something else. He wakes up straining for the sound of someone who isn’t there and the disappointment he feels when he realizes there’s no one is almost worse than not getting any real sleep. It’s awful. It’s only Thursday, but now all he has to do is get through practice and he’ll call in sick tomorrow. Then he’s going to, like, go to a movie theater with a boring movie that still has people there and let himself fall asleep in the back row or break down and beg someone else to come over while he sleeps.

Billy’s hovering even more than he’s been lately. Steve would say something, but he doesn’t have the energy. He’s pretty sure it’s only stubbornness keeping him upright. Steve is mostly playing through muscle memory. Billy steps away from Steve as he goes for a lay-up and Rick Walsh charges up to try to block, trips over his untied shoelace, and comes flying in Steve’s direction. Rick’s head connects violently with Steve’s chest and they both go down hard.

Steve lays there stunned and it feels like a week before he can actually pull in a breath. Billy is there with clenched fists, eyeing Steve up and down. Then Coach Carmichael is there, down on his knees beside Steve.

“Harrington, you alright? You breathing okay?” Coach asks.

Steve nods.

“Do you have any sharp pain, like something’s cracked or broken? Do you need to go to the hospital?” Coach asks.

It takes Steve a little longer to say anything than probably anyone likes. “Uh, just bruised, I think. I don’t need to go to the hospital, but maybe I should go home.”

Coach looks at him and then seems to trust Steve’s judgment. “Yeah, you should go home. But if you start feeling bad or have any trouble breathing, you get your parents to take you to the emergency room.”

“Okay,” Steve says, though he knows his parents won’t be back for, like, a month. He thinks they’re in Toronto this week.

Coach looks around. “Hargrove, help Harrington to the locker room and make sure he gets home okay.”

Billy gives the coach a narrow-eyed look, but nods. Steve is pretty sure that, like him, Coach sees the way Billy’s been glaring at Rick with hostility in his eyes and that’s why Billy is getting sent off with Steve, to hopefully cool down. It’s probably a good thing, since the way Rick is sort of weaving means he might have to go to the hospital.

Billy practically deadlifts Steve into a standing position and marches him over to the locker room. Billy grabs Steve’s street clothes and hands them to Steve. Steve thinks that if he doesn’t dress quickly, Billy will do it for him. The pain of wrestling off his jersey makes Steve nauseous, but he’s able to change into his pants and put on his socks and shoes. Billy watches silently the whole time, even while he changes out of his uniform. The team manager comes in and hands something to Billy before leaving again. Steve stares at his shirt for a long moment, then just drapes it over his shoulder. Billy comes over and takes the shirt and wraps it around the thing he was handed. Billy pulls Steve up from where he was sitting and hands him the shirt-wrapped thing, which Steve realizes then is an ice pack. Steve holds it to his chest.

Billy gets Steve’s jacket and settles it over Steve’s shoulders like a cape, then grabs Steve’s stuff and his own. Billy steers Steve to Billy’s car and puts him into the passenger seat. Billy puts everything else in the back seat and then gets in and starts the car.

They are halfway to Steve’s house before Billy speaks. “Do you want to die?”

“Right now, yes. I really don’t want to know how this is going to feel tomorrow.”

Billy snorts. “That’s not what I meant. You should have been able to get out of Walsh’s way, but you were too tired. You were better for a while there. Or, at least not so tired you might walk into oncoming traffic. But it’s bad again.”

Steve shrugs, which is such a bad idea. His breath stutters as he tries to deal with the pain.

“Do I need to take you to the hospital to get something for the pain?” Billy asks, looking alarmed.

Steve swallows. “No. I have something with, like, codeine at home.”

Billy frowns. “Why do you have that?”

Steve gives him an incredulous look, wondering if Billy’s somehow forgotten beating the hell out of Steve. “You.”

Billy blinks. “Oh,” he says gruffly.

When they get to Steve’s house, Billy puts him on the couch and takes his jacket. Billy asks where the painkillers are and Steve points him to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom off Steve’s bedroom. Billy comes back with the bottle then goes to the kitchen and fetches back a can of Coke. Billy lifts his eyebrows when Steve only takes one pill.

“They make me kind of loopy,” Steve says.

Billy nods. “Can I use your phone?”

Steve eyes him. “Yeah.”

Billy goes into the den to use the phone there, so Steve can’t tell who he calls. But he can hear that Billy gets into an argument with whoever he’s talking to, which doesn’t surprise Steve at all. Steve kind of zones out for a while. He knows that Billy goes out at one point, but comes back in a few minutes later with Steve’s backpack. Later, Billy takes the ice pack and damp shirt that Steve had let fall from his chest some time ago. Then Jonathan and Nancy show up with Steve’s keys, which Steve looks at with confusion. He’s sure he used them to get into the house.

“I gave the keys to them,” Billy says.

“Why?” Steve asks.

“So they could get your car and drive it here,” Billy says.

“Oh. That was nice of you,” Steve says. “Why are you being so nice? You helped me get home and you didn’t even yell at me once.”

“Maybe I’m tired of being mean,” Billy says.

“But you like being mean. It makes you feel better,” Steve says.

“It makes me feel better?” Billy asks.

Steve nods. “Yeah, more in control, safer.”

Billy doesn’t seem to know how to take that, then he shakes it off. “Maybe I’m tired of being mean to you.”

“Huh,” Steve says. “Are you going to be mean to them?” he asks waving at Nancy and Jonathan.

Billy makes a face. “I could try not to.”

“Don’t strain yourself,” Nancy mutters.

“Nancy,” Jonathan says.

“Sorry,” Nancy says to Billy.

Jonathan, Nancy, and Billy all look at each other for a long moment. Steve’s not sure why, but at least it’s better than them all standing there looking at him while he sits shirtless, their eyes darting to his chest every once in a while. Then Jonathan sits down beside Steve, while Nancy and Billy sit in the nearest chairs.

“I thought the naps were supposed to help, did you stop taking them?” Jonathan asks.

“No, but Mike’s been sick,” Steve says and frowns, he hadn’t meant to say anything about Mike.

“And you’re… worried about him?” Jonathan asks.

“Well, yeah, some,” Steve says.

“And that’s been keeping you from napping?” Jonathan asks.

“No. I worry a little about all the little gremlins all the time,” Steve says.

“So what’s the problem?” Billy demands, leaning forward.

Nancy glares at Billy, who frowns and sits back.

“I’ve just been having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep during naps,” Steve says.

“And what does that have to do with Mike being sick?” Jonathan asks.

“He hasn’t been over here helping you with chores, has he?” Nancy asks.

“He’s been helping me!” Steve says, annoyed.

“But not with chores, right? ‘Cause that’s what he said, that he was helping you with… no, he said household stuff,” Nancy says, shaking her head.

“How has he been helping you, Steve?” Jonathan asks.

“He’s just there, okay? He’s there when I go to sleep and he’s there when I wake up. So I’m not in this stupid, big empty house alone, afraid like a little kid that no one will be there,” Steve blurts out, closing his eyes and willing away any tears.

“Like that first night, with us?” Jonathan asks after a minute.

Steve opens his eyes and nods.

“So it doesn’t have to be Mike?” Jonathan asks.

Steve gives a small head shake.

“And if you tried to nap now, with us here, promising to stay until you woke up, that would work?” Jonathan asks.

“Probably,” Steve says.

“Okay, then. We promise to stay until you wake up,” Jonathan says.

Billy looks like he’s about to say something, but Jonathan gives him a hard look and Billy holds his hands up in surrender.

Then Jonathan slides off the couch onto his knees on the floor and starts untying Steve’s shoes. Jonathan also takes off Steve’s socks. Billy gets up and comes over. Jonathan eyes him, but stands up and together they get Steve lying down without him having to move in any way that really pulls at anything that was bruised. Jonathan pulls the couch throw over Steve. It takes a few minutes longer than with Mike, but then Steve drifts off.

When Steve wakes up there are quiet voices coming from nearby. Billy, Jonathan, and Nancy are sitting on the floor around the coffee table near the couch. Nancy’s got a notebook and she’s writing something. Billy says something and she tilts her head, then erases something. She writes something else down, then shows the notebook to Billy, who nods. Well, at least they aren’t arguing, but an actual serious team up might be something to worry about. Steve wonders why he didn’t think about that when he thought they were talking about a foursome.

Steve feels both better and worse. Better, for getting some sleep, worse, for the painkiller wearing off and the stiffness that comes from not moving. He needs the bathroom, though, so he’s going to have to get up. He doesn’t mean to, but he lets out a small groan as he reaches to push the throw blanket aside.

The voices stop. “Are you okay?” Nancy calls out.

“No. I haven’t gotten a full eight hours of sleep in weeks, I have to help fight some pretty gnarly monsters every night, I was headbutted in the chest so hard I’m pretty sure there’s bone bruising, middle-schoolers have been better friends to me this year than any friend I’ve ever had, my parents don’t give much of a shit about me, and I can’t figure out what the three of you want from me,” Steve says and heaves himself into a sitting position. Steve makes a pain-filled noise he really doesn’t want to hear from himself or anyone else ever again. He sits there, eyes squeezed shut, willing himself not to throw up from the pain. Not only is it gross, it will only bring more pain.

“Steve?” Nancy asks softly, her voice coming from much closer.

“Hmm,” Steve says.

“Let us help you, please,” Nancy says.

Steve opens his eyes to find Nancy kneeling close to him, looking pretty upset. “Alright,” Steve says.

“What do you need?” Nancy asks.

“To go to the bathroom,” Steve says, giving her a pained smile.

She blinks then smiles back. She looks over to Billy. Billy comes over and easily pulls Steve onto his feet without Steve having to make any effort.

“Do you think you could just completely lift me?” Steve wonders aloud.

Billy frowns. “Yes. Do you need to be carried?”

“No,” Steve says, distracted by all the possible things Billy could do with that strength.

Billy must read something of that on Steve’s face, because he gives Steve a truly filthy grin.

Once Steve’s done in the bathroom, they get him settled at the dining room table. They set a couple of slices of pizza on a plate in front of him along with a glass of water.

“I’m not really that hungry,” Steve says.

“You should probably eat something now. With how you’re going to feel tomorrow, you’re really not going to want to eat,” Jonathan says.

“Yeah, I guess,” Steve says and then slowly and painfully starts to eat. Bringing his arms up high enough to feed himself is really pulling at his chest. After a few minutes of Nancy wincing along with him, Steve asks her, “You want to feed me, Nance?”

Nancy jumps up from the chair across from Steve’s and comes quickly around the table to sit in the one next to him. It’s a little weird for Steve, but she seems really happy to help.

“Uh, Will is going to take the sleeping pills his doctor prescribed him tonight and tomorrow night,” Jonathan says after Steve has finished.

“He hates those. They always make the dreams come back the next time so much stranger and they are already pretty bizarre,” Steve says.

“Right, but he knows you got hurt and he would hate it so much more if he was keeping you from getting better. So, even if he wasn’t going to take them, he and Eleven wouldn’t try to… pull you in. And they were talking about making soup or cookies, so you should probably expect most of the group here tomorrow after school with something,” Jonathan says.

Steve smiles.

“Soup or cookies?” Billy asks.

“That’s all I’ve shown them how to make. I made them promise they wouldn’t make anything they haven’t learned how to without someone who knows what they’re doing until they’ve learned how to make ten different things. Otherwise the little shits would probably burn down someone’s house,” Steve says fondly.

“Anybody else feel like a second-rate older sibling?” Jonathan asks.

Nancy raises her arm and then Billy does too.

Steve just shakes his head, but he has a warm feeling inside.

They put their arms down. Jonathan and Billy get up. Jonathan clears Steve’s dishes and heads for the kitchen, while Billy heads toward the living room. Jonathan comes back with Steve’s glass refilled with water and puts it in front of Steve. Billy comes back with the bottle of painkillers. Steve looks at the bottle, frowning.

“Harrington, you need the sleep, you won’t be able to without something for the pain,” Billy says.

Steve sighs. “Yeah, I’m just… I don’t know, worried, I guess. What if Wi- someone needs me?”

Billy looks at him. “I can do it.”

“Do what?” Steve asks.

“The dream thing. They didn’t try me before, right?” Billy asks.

“…No,” Steve says hesitantly.

“Relax, I get why. They can pull me in or whatever tonight. I don’t think I’ll be great at it or anything, but the kid’ll have someone else there. He can take the sleeping pill tomorrow night. And you won’t have to worry so much about him,” Billy says.

“That’s really nice of you Billy, maybe you really are tired of being mean,” Steve says.

“Shut up,” Billy says.

“I don’t know if Will and Eleven will be okay with that,” Jonathan says warily.

Billy sighs. “Call them, tell them to talk to Max if they need to.”

Jonathan gets up and leaves the room.

Steve looks at Billy. “Uh, if they say yes, you should know you might run into something in a dream that looks like you.”

Billy makes a face, but doesn’t seem upset by that. “I guess that makes sense.”

“I haven’t seen that one in a while, but just in case. I mean, I don’t even know if you’ll remember when you’re in,” Steve says.

“Anything else I should watch out for?” Billy asks.

Steve thinks about it. “I don’t know, Will’s mind is really creative, there are some really strange things in there and a lot of it is different from one time to another. Oh, wait. Yeah, there is something. You ever watch The Thing?”

Billy frowns. “Yeah.”

“If you ever come across a normal looking dog, put it down as quickly as you can. It doesn’t stay a dog, and that fucking thing moves fast,” Steve says.

Billy raises his eyebrows. “Dog Thing, great. Right, got it. Do you thrash or yell or anything when you’re in them? Anything my dad might hear and get- Anything my dad might try to wake me from?”

“I don’t know,” Steve says. If he’s made any noise, it hasn’t been enough to wake himself up, and it’s not like there’s been anyone else around to hear it.

“I thought we were all staying here tonight,” Nancy says.

“All of us? What, are we going to take turns on the couch?” Billy asks.

“Well, if you’re staying, you could just use one of the guest rooms,” Steve says.

“One of the guest rooms,” Billy says.

“There are two. And there’s also a day bed in the room Mom turned into a craft room that she barely ever uses. She’s actually pretty good at them, but she’s just not, you know, around here much,” Steve says.

Billy shakes his head. Then he gets two pills out of the bottle and hands them to Nancy. Nancy looks at Steve and he nods. She helps him take the pills.

Jonathan comes back in. “Okay, Billy, I don’t know what Max said to Will and Eleven, but they checked with her and Will said they’d try with you tonight.”

Billy grunts.

“Hey, does anyone know if Rick’s okay?” Steve asks.

“Who?” Billy asks.

“Our teammate,” Steve says.

“Oh, Walsh. Who cares?” Billy asks.

“I think you will if the Tigers are down two players for next Tuesday’s game,” Steve says.

Billy looks a little irritated. “Yeah.”

“Aren’t there, like twelve on the team? And don’t you only need five to play?” Jonathan asks.

“No, not really, you have to be able to sub-in players, for fouls or injuries during play. But also, it’s tiring to play the whole game through and Coach has to be able to give a flagging player a break or change someone out if the style of play isn’t working. Anyway, like, five of those guys are just okay players that can sometimes be good and they usually only get a few minutes of game play,” Steve explains.

“Even with Zombie Steve being the complete mess he has been, he’s still a better player,” Billy agrees.

“Hey!” Steve says, upset.

“What? You have been a mess,” Billy says.

“I know! That’s not what I- Look, could you maybe not mention anything that could possibly show up in this goddamn horror show of a town? And especially don’t mention zombies around Will,” Steve says.

“Oh,” Billy says. “Fair enough. Well, anyway, without Walsh and Steve, the game’s going to be a bitch.”

“Maybe Mike and company could find a way to get it cancelled or postponed. Apparently Max has heard from someone a way to get into and out of the gym without being seen, so if they wanted to sabotage the gym with something like, I don’t know, water or something, they could,” Nancy says in a strange, overly sweet tone.

Steve looks at her, confused, since it doesn’t really sound like something Nancy would be okay with. But she’s looking at Billy, who just shrugs.

Steve is reminded of something, though. “I should call Mike.”

“What? Why?” Nancy asks.

“I haven’t checked on him today. Want to make sure he isn’t feeling any worse. He’s a sweet kid,” Steve says.

“Mike?” comes from both Nancy and Jonathan.

“Yeah, don’t tell him I said that, he doesn’t think he is and he won’t like that I think so. It’s weird that I kind of miss him already. He’s sick, you know,” Steve says.

“Those pills are starting kick in, huh?” Billy asks.

Steve thinks that maybe Billy is right since he feels kind of float-y. He nods.

“Let’s get you upstairs and ready for bed, then?” Jonathan says gently.

“Okay,” Steve says.

Getting cleaned up and into some pajama pants takes some time. Steve’s not sure he needs three people to help him do it, but it seems to make them feel better. It’s a good thing his bathroom is so big. He’s mostly just letting them do what they want while his thoughts wander.

“Oh, I didn’t call Mike,” Steve says.

“You can call him tomorrow,” Nancy says.

“I guess so. It’s been good to have someone else in the house. Did Mike tell you about me wishing I had a brother or sister?” Steve says.

“No, but he did come home last week and hug me and say that he was glad I was his sister, even if I was sometimes like an alien,” Nancy says.

“See, told you, sweet,” Steve says.

“Then he ignored me for two days,” Nancy says.

“Still wish I had one. Do you think if they weren’t so disappointed with the one they had, my parents would have had more kids?” Steve asks.

There’s just silence for long moments and Steve starts to wonder if he hadn’t actually said that out loud.

Billy makes an angry noise. “Some people shouldn’t be allowed to be parents.”

Steve blinks when Nancy puts a careful hand on Billy’s shoulder.

“I think when someone expects unreasonable things any disappointment is on them,” Jonathan says bitterly. “I think very few of your parents’ choices have anything to do with you and that’s a problem because some of them definitely should.”

Steve is suddenly thinking about all he’s heard about Will and Jonathan’s dad.

Billy must be on the same track. “So, is Wheeler the only one here who lucked out with not having at least one really terrible parent?”

“I guess, though my dad can be a jerk sometimes,” Nancy says.

“No, Mrs. Byers totally counts as one and half good parents,” Steve says, not completely sure what he’s saying makes sense.

Jonathan smiles. “Yeah, okay, I’m good with Lonnie only counting as half a parent.”

They get Steve settled in his bed.

“See, letting someone help isn’t the worse thing,” Nancy says.

“I bet it’s nice never to have gotten used to having to do everything yourself. There’s probably always been someone around for you when you needed help,” Steve says, blinking slowly as sleep tries to drag him under.

Nancy looks like she wants to cry. “I-“

“It’s okay, Nance. I’m really glad you’ve had that,” Steve slurs out as sleep finally wins.

~~~

Steve wakes up hearing someone moving around in the house. It’s so out of place that he can’t really figure out what’s going on. Then he takes a sharp breath and gets a horrifically painful reminder of what happened yesterday. His stomach turns and it’s long moments of shallow breathing before he doesn’t feel like his chest is going to cave in. He looks at his chest and the bruising is bad, like a terrible finger-painting of purple, blue, and red. That’s probably not going to go over well, but there’s no way he going to put on a shirt.

Steve moves very carefully and very slowly and is able to get himself out of bed. He makes it to the bathroom and the bruising somehow seems worse in the mirror. He relieves himself and washes his hands. He thinks about splashing some water on his face, but decides pretty quickly that isn’t going to happen.

He makes it back to the bed. He doesn’t think he’ll be able to go back to sleep any time soon, though he’s still tired. So he slowly gets pillows in place so that he can lean up against them, sort of sitting up, instead of just laying himself down flat. There’s maybe some whimpering as he gets himself back under the covers, but there’s no one but him in the room to hear them, so that’s okay. Steve’s okay with just not moving for a while. A few minutes later, there’s a soft knock on his bedroom door.

“Yeah?” Steve calls out.

The door opens with Nancy and Jonathan standing there in the doorway, Billy lurking behind them

“We thought we heard you moving around,” Nancy says.

“Yeah,” Steve says.

“Do you need anything? We could bring up something for breakfast,” Jonathan says.

“No, you were right last night, I don’t feel like eating anything now,” Steve says.

“What about some hot chocolate?” Nancy asks.

“Your special kind? That might be okay,” Steve says.

“I’ll go make some.” Nancy leaves with a smile on her face.

Jonathan and Billy come into the room, Jonathan leaning up against the wall while Billy sinks into the chair by Steve’s desk. Billy looks awful, like he’s been put through the wringer.

“Are you okay?” Steve asks Billy.

“I don’t know how you’ve done this dream thing for so long, that was brutal,” Billy says.

“You remembered?” Steve asks, surprised since he doesn’t think anyone else has.

“Most of it, I think, some of it is really hazy. I was close to useless most of the time there. The kid was able to hold his own sometimes, but sometimes he was fighting a losing battle and I think it was ‘cause of me. He wouldn’t cut his losses and leave me behind. I blame you for that,” Billy says.

“Eh, I mean, yeah, I probably wouldn’t leave anyone behind, but that’s probably partly Will. You were there to try to help and he knows that. He’s a good kid,” Steve says.

“Anyway, you were right about that Dog Thing. It was gross when it transformed and it was so fast. It looked really wrong when it moved, too,” Billy says.

Steve makes a face. “Yeah.”

“He was really able to hold his own sometimes?” Jonathan asks quietly.

Billy eyes Jonathan and then nods.

“He really is getting better at it,” Steve says.

Jonathan doesn’t say anything to that and Steve isn’t sure what to say to make him feel better. Billy’s looking kind of lost himself and it’s strange to see on him. Steve has always figured that Billy did care a lot about some things, it’s hard to be so angry if you don’t, but he usually doesn’t let it show in this way.

“He’s a tough little kid,” Billy finally offers after long moments of heavy silence.

“What?” Jonathan says.

“With what has happened to him, he’s still standing, still fighting. Tough,” Billy says.

Jonathan looks like he’s thinking about that.

Nancy comes back with a mug. She sits down on the bed and helps Steve sip it. Steve carefully shifts a little higher up to make it easier to finish it. He doesn’t notice his comforter has fallen some until Nancy makes a small shocked gasp and pulls the mug away, looking at the bruising.

“If Walsh wasn’t already in the hospital, I would make sure he went there,” Billy growls.

“He’s in the hospital?” Steve asks.

“Concussion,” Billy says. “Coach told me when I called him to let him know you weren’t coming to school today and that I was staying here to look after you. He said he’d explain everything to the front office.”

“But he thinks my parents are taking care of me,” Steve says.

“It’s a real shame that bad weather is keeping them grounded where they are, especially since they were supposed to be back yesterday,” Billy says with a shrug.

Steve cannot figure out what Billy is talking about until he realizes that must be what Billy told Coach. “Uh, okay.”

“That looks bad,” Jonathan says.

“I think it looks like a bat,” Steve says. It does look sort of like a lopsided bat, but he only says it to distract them. He catches the unholy light in Billy’s eyes and thinks he’s made a mistake.

“You’re Batman!” Billy cackles. “You’re rich and you fight bad things at night.”

“And you use a bat as a weapon, a baseball bat, but a bat,” Nancy says, getting in on it.

Steve stares at her in betrayal. “Jonathan made it!”

Billy throws a surprised look Jonathan’s way, but quickly focuses back on Steve. “And you have a Boy Wonder.”

Steve thinks Billy is talking about Will, but Steve has trouble holding back a laugh thinking about Mike in a Robin costume. “Billy, swear to God, if you make me laugh with my chest like this… Nancy will kick your ass.”

Billy holds up his hands. “Wouldn’t want that.”

Nancy’s smiling as she gets off the bed. “Jonathan and I have to go to school, but we’ll be back after school.”

“I think we should check in at our houses and maybe get some stuff for tonight after school,” Jonathan says.

Nancy nods. “Okay, we’ll be back after that, then.”

“You’re spending the night again?” Steve asks.

Nancy has that look like she wants to lecture him about something, but Jonathan just nods and she seems to let it go. Nancy presses a soft kiss to Steve’s forehead.

“Not going to tell me to be good for Billy?” Steve asks jokingly.

“I honestly think he’d like it better if you were bad,” Nancy says with a smile.

Steve blushes.

Nancy leaves laughing. Jonathan’s not laughing as he trails after her, but only just. Billy just looks at Steve cockily.

~~~

Steve eventually takes another pill and doesn’t want to just stay in bed all day. Billy doesn’t seem all that happy with Steve moving downstairs, but helps him. Steve calls Mike and lets him be sarcastic at Steve until Mike feels better. Mike tells Steve something about what is going on with everyone. Steve thinks Mike might be pretty bored, but seems to be getting better and will probably be back in school on Monday.

“If I go to school on Monday, I’ll be over at your place later,” Mike says like he’s daring Steve to argue.

Steve is pretty okay with that, though. “If you feel up to it, then, yeah.” Steve’s not sure he’ll be up to driving then, to pick up and drop off Mike, but they can figure that out later.

“Okay, then,” Mike says. “You’re really okay, right?”

“I’m pretty bruised and sore, but I’ll heal. I always do,” Steve says.

“Or maybe you could just not get bruised. You know, be more careful,” Mike says.

Steve could say something about how it’s always been someone else doing the bruising, but he doesn’t think that will make anything seem better. “It almost sounds like you care.”

There’s a long silence, then instead of the annoyed denial or hang up Steve is half expecting, Mike says, “You’re not the person I thought you were. I thought you were a Thief, but I think maybe you’re a Paladin.”

Steve doesn’t totally get that, he only sort of understands the D&D thing, but he’s pretty sure that Mike just said something really nice to Steve. Mike’s maybe not wrong about who Steve used to be. “Maybe I was what you thought and I changed.”

“Sometimes those are the best types of journeys to take,” Mike says.

“Love you, too, Mike,” Steve says.

Mike scoffs and hangs up.

Steve smiles as he hangs up the phone.

“You ready to go back to your bed?” Billy asks from where he’s been lingering at the door of the den.

As much as Steve may have thought about lying in bed and not moving for a while, he doesn’t want to do it all day. He thinks about his options and says, “Maybe the table instead?”

“You hungry?”

“Not really, I just think it might be easier to read there.” Steve’s not a big reader, but that’s better than doing nothing and he isn’t up for much else right now.

Billy gives him a skeptical look, but doesn’t argue. He helps Steve get settled at the dining room table and makes Steve a protein shake thing anyway. It isn’t terrible and it has a straw, so it’s easier for Steve to drink. It seems to make Billy feel better, since he fixes his own lunch and doesn’t hover over Steve as much.

After he finishes eating, Billy goes to find the magazines from the last six months or so that Steve points him toward. Billy brings back a big stack sets it on the table near Steve. Billy is giving the magazines a puzzled look. Steve doesn’t have an explanation to give him for all the different magazines his mom gets. She only ever reads Life, so he’s not really sure why she’s subscribed to the others.

Steve picks a very orange one and flips through it, and an article catches his eye. He starts reading it and starts to wonder what the hell the magazine is talking about.

“What are you reading that’s putting that look on your face?” Billy asks.

“I never thought of myself as an expert at sex or anything, but I’ve done plenty of stuff and I’ve never heard of some of these things,” Steve says.

Billy takes the magazine from Steve, though he’s careful about it. “Looking for Mr. Goodsex, well, that sounds like a porno. What is this?” Billy looks at the cover. “Oh, Cosmo.” He flips back to the article, “Looking for Mr. Goodsex: Common Myths About Lovemaking, yeah, this isn’t aimed at you, at all.”

Steve looks through the stack again, trying to find something that’s interesting, but not too confusing.

Billy tosses the Cosmo on the table and gets up and leaves the room. He’s back again in a minute holding a notebook with a pencil stuck in the spiral binding. He stands there looking at Steve for a long moment. “We were going to wait until tomorrow, after you’d had two good nights of sleep, to show you this, but you might as well look at it now. I think Wheeler must have been okay with it, otherwise she would have taken it with her instead of leaving it here,” Billy says as he sets the notebook down in front of Steve.

Steve looks at Billy, but he just waves to the notebook and leaves the room again. So Steve flips open the cover.

Rules for Us

1. No one of us is allowed to get violent or threaten violence against any of the rest of us, Joyce Byers, Karen Wheeler, Ted Wheeler, or any of the kids, unless there is a good reason. Being angry is NOT a good reason. Something like possession is.

Steve blinks and reads it again. He can see where ‘Billy’ was erased and replaced with ‘No one of us’. He goes to the next one.

2. Each one of us has to respect the way any of the rest of us may feel about our own lives and our decisions. Even if you think you know best. Questioning and reasoning are allowed, demanding and scolding are not.

And that one, he can see where ‘Nancy’ was erased and replaced with ‘Each one of us’. Steve wonders when they decided to set up rules for dealing with each other and why. He goes to the next one.

3. Any one of us can go off alone, away from everyone if needed, but not without letting any of the rest of us know.

The next few don’t seem to have names that have been erased and replaced, like they decided to make it more general, but Steve can sort tell who they are more aimed at.

4. No one of us is allowed to do something dangerous or damaging to his or her health without letting any of the rest of us know if there is time.

5. No one of us has to always be on guard. No one of us has be responsible for knowing or fixing everything. The rest of us are capable and can pitch in.

6. No one of us is allowed to tell any of the rest of us not to care. Each one of us is worth caring about. Any authority figure who does not care like they should has something wrong with them.

7. No one of us is allowed to tear any of us down. Arguing and teasing is allowed, serious insults meant to hurt are not.

8. No one of us is allowed to just ignore anything that any of the rest of us do that causes serious annoyance or anger. Anything like this should be talked about and dealt with.

It’s not until Steve reaches the ninth rule that he realizes the rules aren’t for some sort of friendship pact. He feels a little stupid, but with way they had all reacted before, them all agreeing to a relationship had seemed like it didn’t even have a ghost of a chance. Stranger things have happened here, though.

9. Each one of us must believe there is at least a possibility of this working out. It may fall apart, it may blow up, but it shouldn’t be decided that it will fail before it even starts.

Steve goes back and reads all the rules that came before again, thinking about them in a different way now. Then he carries on.

10. Any of us can be together in any combination of two or three without letting the rest know beforehand, but all four have to be told soon after. Details are encouraged.

11. No one of us is allowed to kiss anyone outside of us, not even for fundraising. No one of us is allowed to heavily flirt with anyone outside of us, especially parents.

12. Any one of us can ask for anything they want to do. If any one of the rest of us doesn’t want to do it, you don’t have to say why, only if you don’t want to do it right now or ever and if you are okay with being there while others do it.

Well, that’s interesting. Steve doesn’t think he’s ever had, like, formal rules before. He guesses it’s probably not a bad thing to spell things out. The rest of the page, though, besides numbers, is blank.

13.

14.

15.

16.

Steve reads through the list again and thinks that maybe the blank ones are for him to come up with. If he wants to. His eyes drift back toward number nine. Each one of us must believe there is at least a possibility of this working out. Is that something he can believe? No, that’s not the right question. Of course he could, if he let himself. Should he let himself? Probably not. But, but, there’s the look on Jonathan’s face when he was thinking about running for it with Steve, there’s how happy Nancy had been to be able to help him, and there’s the way Billy laughed when he called Steve Batman. Damn, now Steve’s going to have to think up some rules.

It takes a long time to write them out, partly because he’s trying to figure out the best way to put what he means and partly because writing is harder than just flipping through magazines with his chest the way it is. He finally comes up with something he thinks is okay.

13. Each one of us is allowed to end it if it isn’t working, but it has to be said out loud to all of the rest of us.

14. No one of us is allowed to do creepy things. There is enough creepiness in this town without adding to it.

15. Each one of us can come to any of the rest of us for someplace to hide. Or rest. Or if you need someone to talk to, to stand with you, or just to be there.

16. All of us have to be careful with each other.

Billy’s been out of the room a long time and Steve wonders if that’s because he wanted to make sure Steve had enough time to think about it or if he’s worried about Steve’s answer. Steve checks the clock and realizes he’s been sitting a lot longer than he thought. The middle school is already out. Which means he needs something that will cover his chest, since Jonathan’s probably right about the kids making their way over here.

Steve closes the notebook and puts the pencil back. Now, where is he going to put this that it won’t catch the eye of one of the overly curious smurfs that are going to invade? He’s still trying to figure it out when Billy comes back.

“Oh good, you need to hide this somewhere,” Steve says.

Billy seems caught off guard. “What?”

“The kids. They’ll probably be over here soon. You need to put this somewhere they won’t find it.”

“Got a safe?” Billy asks with a smirk.

“Yeah, but I don’t think that’s needed.”

Billy blinks. “Right. So, uh, under your mattress?”

Steve absolutely thinks that’s a place at least one of the boys would look. “Are you kidding?”

“Well, where do you keep things you don’t want someone to find?” Billy asks dryly.

Steve thinks about it a few seconds and goes ahead and tells him. “There’s an old 8-track case on the floor of my closet, under two really ugly quilts. You could put it in there.”

Billy eyes him. “Okay.”

“Oh, wait! I think I have a poncho in the back of the closet too, maybe hanging, maybe not. Could you bring it back with you if you see it?”

“Poncho?”

Steve gives a half wave to his chest.

“Oh.” Billy takes the notebook and leaves the room.

Billy comes back a few minutes later with something that is definitely not the purple crocheted poncho thing that a great-aunt had made for Steve years ago. Billy holds it up and Steve stares at it. Instead, it’s a black, gray, and white serape. It takes a long moment for Steve to remember his parents bringing it and another one back from one of their trips to Mexico.

“It’s what I found,” Billy says.

“Uh, yeah, that’ll probably work.” Weirdly, Steve can’t decide if he would be made more fun of for this or the purple crochet. At least it won’t freak any of the kids out. Though, honestly, they did not have any problem dragging his beat-up self with them a few months ago.

Billy helps him get it on and doesn’t say anything once Steve has it on, even if Steve can tell he really, really wants to say something.

The doorbell rings a few minutes later, then loud knocking starts even before the doorbell echo fully fades. Billy looks at Steve. Steve fights a smile. “Would you mind getting that?”

Billy heads to the door and comes back leading Will, who is carrying a plastic wrapped plate, El, who is carrying a thermos, Dustin, who is frowning at Billy, Lucas, who is giving Billy a wary look, and Max, who looks like she wants to kick someone, but can’t decide who. Max elbows Dustin.

Dustin jumps a little and finally focuses on Steve. “We can only stay a few minutes, my mom’s waiting-“ Dustin breaks off and stares at Steve. “What are you wearing?”

“It’s the latest fashion,” Steve says. “You guys didn’t have to come by.”

“We wanted to make sure you were okay, and bring you these,” Will says and puts the plate, which looks like it has cookies, on the table. He leans closer to Steve and whispers, “Dustin thinks Billy may be keeping you prisoner or something.”

Steve shakes his head. “I’m sore, but I’ll be fine. Thanks, this is nice.”

Will shrugs. “Mike said you like peanut butter cookies best?”

Steve blinks. “Yeah, I do. Didn’t know he knew that. Thank him for me when you see him. How are you doing?”

Will gives him a small smile. “I’m okay.”

He really does seem to be so Steve nods.

El puts down the thermos. “Chicken noodle soup. Is that really the latest fashion?”

“No, it’s not. It’s a serape from Mexico,” Steve says.

“Oh. I like the way it looks,” El says, looking a little wistful.

Steve looks at Billy. “Was there another one where you found this one, only with really bright colors?”

“If I had seen that, that’s what would’ve brought back,” Billy says.

“Could you go and take another look?” Steve asks.

Billy gives him a look.

“Please,” Steve says.

Billy huffs out a sigh and leaves.

“He isn’t keeping you prisoner, is he?” Dustin asks.

“Dustin!” Max says.

“Billy’s been pretty good to have around,” Steve says.

Now even Max seems skeptical. “Really? I mean, he’s been a lot better, but even when he’s helping, he’s not very, um, nice about it.”

Lucas nods forcefully.

“He’s been trying to be nicer, I think,” Steve says.

Billy comes back with both the serape with brightly colored stripes and the purple crocheted poncho. He holds the poncho forward and says, “I really wish this was the first thing I had seen.”

El is looking between the poncho and serape with bright eyes.

“You want them, El?” Steve asks.

“But they’re yours,” El says.

“I don’t wear them often, at all. You can have them both. But, like, the serape, the striped one, is not something a lot of people around here would wear, so they might make fun of you if you wear it out in public,” Steve says.

El nods seriously, but takes them both. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Steve says.

Then there’s a bunch of goodbyes as the kids all remember that Dustin’s mom is waiting on them. Billy follows them out and then comes back. Billy sits down at the table and looks at Steve, seeming kind of uneasy. “I wasn’t snooping, in the case, when I put the notebook in.”

Steve is pretty sure that totally means that he was. “Okay.”

“I saw a ring?”

Steve knows the ring and thinks he knows why Billy is interested in it. “Oh, yeah. I was in love and going to ask her to marry me.”

Billy’s face goes stormy. “Wheeler?”

Steve wonders if Billy will call her that once everything is settled and they are all four together. Probably, if it would rile her. “No.”

Billy looks shocked. “No?”

“No, I begged my mom to buy that ring.”

Now, Billy just looks confused. “You… begged your mom?”

“Yeah, it was pretty expensive for costume jewelry. Of course, I didn’t understand what that was at the time, I thought it was real. It looks pretty real.”

Billy shakes his head and seems a little embarrassed. “Yes, it does. How old were you?”

“I was five. But before I could get up the courage to ask, it was too late.”

“You were five and you were going to ask someone to marry you.”

“Yeah, you’ve probably met her.”

“Yeah?” Billy asks a little sourly.

Steve smiles a little. “Mrs. Brandon.”

“Mrs. Brandon? One of the librarians?”

“Yeah, she’d just started working there, like, that year. She was Miss Wang then, though. Then she and Mr. Brandon got married.”

“You missed your chance.”

“I did.”

“Well, you are a stud. She’s, like, twenty years older?”

“Something like that, I guess.”

“So, you’ve always been kind of a romantic, huh?”

Steve’s not sure he’s really like he was as a kid, he’s had some pretty harsh realizations in the past couple of years. But he guesses in Billy’s view, Steve might as well be that writer lady, Joan, in Romancing the Stone. So he just nods.

“Soup and cookies,” Billy says, looking at the plate and thermos.

Steve smiles. “Yep.”

“You want a cookie?” Billy asks.

He kind of does. The real question is: does he want Billy to feed him a cookie? “Yeah, okay.”

Billy looks a little surprised, but gamely unwraps the plate and helps Steve eat a cookie. It’s pretty good, the kids learned well. Steve suddenly yawns.

“I think it’s naptime for you,” Billy says.

Steve thinks about arguing, but he is tired and he doesn’t think he’ll have any trouble sleeping tonight even with a nap. Also, it’s probably not a bad idea to keep to what he’s been doing. Steve nods.

Steve doesn’t fight Billy on taking another pill either. Billy frowns the whole time he’s getting Steve out of the serape and on the couch. Steve isn’t sure if Billy is worried because Steve isn’t protesting or if it’s just that Billy sort of lives for conflict.

“I can fight you on something later,” Steve says sleepily.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Steve blinks slowly, wanting to sleep, but also a little tense. “You’re staying, right?” Steve closes his eyes in embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to say that, and he especially hadn’t meant to sound so needy.

“Harrington, Harrington, Steve, look at me.”

Steve opens his eyes.

“I will be here when you wake up,” Billy says seriously.

“Alright,” Steve says quietly. He closes his eyes again and lets himself drift off.

~~~

Steve wakes up feeling tired. It’s not surprising, he thinks it’s going to take a while to actually feel rested after sleep, even once Will is good on his own. Steve lightly touches at his chest. It’s really sore, but not anywhere near as bad as this morning, the painkiller must still be working. He’s still not looking forward to getting upright.

He drags himself up slowly. He looks at the serape laid over the back of the couch and decides it’s not worth the effort and pain to get it on himself. He eventually makes his way to the dining room where he can hear at least a couple of people talking. Plus, he’s actually a little hungry. He will probably go for the soup, even if he kind of just wants to eat cookies.

Billy, Jonathan, and Nancy are all sitting at the table. Jonathan is looking at a very familiar notebook, while Billy and Nancy are saying something to each other in low voices, it looks intense, but not really angry. They stop when they notice Steve. Jonathan flips the notebook closed.

“Steve, how are you feeling?” Nancy asks.

“Eh. I’m kind of hungry, now,” Steve says.

“We bought a couple of pizzas, there’s still some left. Or we could go get you something from that diner off 5th, if you want,” she suggests.

“I thought I would just have some soup,” Steve says.

“Right, the kids brought you soup and cookies,” Nancy says with a smile.

“The soup’s in the kitchen, I could heat it up for you?” Jonathan offers.

Steve smiles at him. “That’d be great, thanks. Maybe put it in a mug?”

“Sure,” Jonathan says as he gets up and goes to the kitchen.

Steve sits down next to Nancy at the table by himself, even though both Billy and Nancy look like they want to help. The stack of magazines is still on the table but pushed down to the end of it. And the plate of cookies is in the middle, with a few less than there were.

“Can you change things in dreams?” Billy says suddenly.

Steve looks at him in surprise.

Billy shrugs. “I’ve just been wondering about it.”

“Well, how do you mean?” Steve asks.

“Could you, well, could whoever is dreaming change monsters into, like, marshmallows or something?” Billy asks.

“Have you not watched Ghostbusters?” Steve asks.

Billy frowns. “What?”

“It doesn’t really work that way. At least not for me and not for Will, either. If you try to change something like that, it might change but it will be in a twisted way or something just as bad or worse will happen later. The thing that’s important is figuring out how to deal with what’s there. The first part is being aware of being in the dream. Then you have to be aware of yourself, which will help you make choices and, like, direct your actions in the dream. When you direct your actions and control your choices, that’s not really changing what’s in the dream, but, you know, changing how you take things on. The more you do it, the better you get at it. And all that helps you understand the things in your dreams, which helps you deal with them,” Steve says, not sure if he’s explaining very clearly.

“So Billy got to the first part? And none of the rest of us did?” Nancy asks curiously.

“Um, he maybe wasn’t fully aware, otherwise it would have been clearer to him, but yeah. And since none of the rest of you really remember, yeah. Well, El is fully aware, but I’m not sure she can change the way she reacts right now,” Steve says.

Jonathan comes back with a mug of soup and a glass of water then. He sets it down in front of Steve. Nancy scoots her chair closer so she can help him drink. He’s able to finish the mug. He looks at the cookies. He wants a cookie, but he doesn’t really want anyone to feed him the cookie.

“Do you want a cookie, Harrington?” Billy asks, raising an eyebrow.

“No.” Steve hangs his head. “Yes.”

“What? Don’t think you should?” Billy asks.

“No. I just don’t want to be fed a cookie now. It makes me feel like a little kid,” Steve says.

“Well, people also help old people eat. You are older than all of us. Does thinking of yourself as an old man work better for you?” Billy asks, amused.

“Wow, it so does not,” Steve says flatly.

“People also help others who have been injured, which is what is happing here. If Nancy hurt her back, you would help her out, wouldn’t you?” Jonathan asks.

“Yes,” Steve says reluctantly.

“Look, I know there are some people that you’ve learned you can’t depend on. And that makes it hard to accept help from others sometimes. But let us, please,” Jonathan says.

“I guess that is one of the rules,” Steve says, nodding to the notebook.

“So, does that mean you agree?” Nancy asks intently. “We thought so, after you filled in your own rules. But we didn’t even talk about changes, so we-” Nancy pauses and looks over at Billy, “I didn’t want to assume.”

“Changes?” Steve asks.

“If anyone wanted to add anything or make something clearer. We should all get a say on all of them, if we want. And we should make sure we all understand what each rule means,” Nancy says.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Steve says. He had thought that they were, like, set, but it does seem more fair if they can question them. “Could I see them again?”

Jonathan opens the notebook and slides it over to Steve.

Rules for Us

1. No one of us is allowed to get violent or threaten violence against any of the rest of us, Joyce Byers, Karen Wheeler, Ted Wheeler, or any of the kids, unless there is a good reason. Being angry is NOT a good reason. Something like possession is.

2. Each one of us has to respect the way any of the rest of us may feel about our own lives and our decisions. Even if you think you know best. Questioning and reasoning are allowed, demanding and scolding are not.

3. Any one of us can go off alone, away from everyone if needed, but not without letting any of the rest of us know.

4. No one of us is allowed to do something dangerous or damaging to his or her health without letting any of the rest of us know if there is time.

5. No one of us has to always be on guard. No one of us has be responsible for knowing or fixing everything. The rest of us are capable and can pitch in.

6. No one of us is allowed to tell any of the rest of us not to care. Each one of us is worth caring about. Any authority figure who does not care like they should has something wrong with them.

7. No one of us is allowed to tear any of us down. Arguing and teasing is allowed, serious insults meant to hurt are not.

8. No one of us is allowed to just ignore anything that any of the rest of us do that causes serious annoyance or anger. Anything like this should be talked about and dealt with.

9. Each one of us must believe there is at least a possibility of this working out. It may fall apart, it may blow up, but it shouldn’t be decided that it will fail before it even starts.

10. Any of us can be together in any combination of two or three without letting the rest know beforehand, but all four have to be told soon after. Details are encouraged.

11. No one of us is allowed to kiss anyone outside of us, not even for fundraising. No one of us is allowed to heavily flirt with anyone outside of us, especially parents.

12. Any one of us can ask for anything they want to do. If any one of the rest of us doesn’t want to do it, you don’t have to say why, only if you don’t want to do it right now or ever and if you are okay with being there while others do it.

13. Each one of us is allowed to end it if it isn’t working, but it has to be said out loud to all of the rest of us.

14. No one of us is allowed to do creepy things. There is enough creepiness in this town without adding to it.

15. Each one of us can come to any of the rest of us for someplace to hide. Or rest. Or if you need someone to talk to, to stand with you, or just to be there.

16. All of us have to be careful with each other.

“So, okay on the first one there’s nothing about not getting violent with or not threatening my parents?” Steve asks.

“That’s right,” Nancy says.

“Nope, nothing,” Billy says.

Jonathan nods.

Steve had just wondered if that was on purpose, so he guesses he’s got his answer. “Okay.”

All three seem to relax a little.

“For number five, what if you’re the only one who can fix something?” Steve asks.

Nancy looks thoughtful, then slides the notebook over to her, and pulls the pencil from the binding. “How about ‘The rest of us are capable and can pitch in, even if it’s just to support.’?” She looks at Steve.

That seems better to Steve, so he nods.

Nancy looks at the other two. Jonathan nods and Billy shrugs, but then nods too. She writes it down and slides the notebook back to Steve, holding onto the pencil.

Steve is pretty sure if he doesn’t bring it up, someone else will. And maybe he should make it clear not just for them, but for himself. “Number nine, the possibility of this working out, um,” he trails off when they all sort of freeze, “I, it feels like it would be safer, smarter for me not to believe there is one. But, well, I’m not always as careful as I should be and I’m not that smart, so alright, I can do that.”

Nancy blows out a breath, looking relieved, but a little sad, too. Jonathan just looks quietly accepting along with his relief.

“I don’t know, Harrington, I think you may be smarter than us about some things,” Billy says, studying him.

Billy doesn’t seem to be making a joke, but Steve’s not really sure how to take that, so he just lets it go.

“Okay, then,” Steve says.

“Do you want to talk about any more of them?” Nancy asks.

Steve looks at the rules. “The no-kissing thing in number eleven is set, right?” Steve can’t keep from smiling at the stony looks that gets him. “Kidding. Just kidding. Oh, but wait, for number twelve, should I have a list of things to do?

“Yes, a list would be good,” Billy says immediately.

Nancy gives him a narrow-eyed look.

“What, Wheeler, you don’t want to know if he wants to try being handcuffed to the bed or something?” Billy challenges.

Nancy blinks. “You could write a list,” Nancy says to Steve.

Steve looks at Billy. “I’ve been handcuffed. Silk scarves are better.”

Jonathan clears his throat. “You, you should make a list.”

“Okay, but not now,” Steve says.

Billy looks disappointed by that but brushes it off. “Right, I have a question. The creepy one, what creepy things are we talking about?”

“Things like watching people when they sleep or, I don’t know, taking pictures through bedroom windows,” Steve says, not looking at Jonathan.

“Huh, okay,” Billy says.

Jonathan looks a little embarrassed. “Right, no doing creepy things. And for the last one, do you mean we should be careful not to show we’re together around anyone, like the kids?”

Steve looks at him in surprise. “What? No. Mike will be over here on Monday to be around while I nap. He will definitely ask about all of you being over here. And I’m not going to lie to him about it.”

Nancy looks like she wants to say something, but Jonathan shakes his head at her, and she doesn’t.

“Great,” Billy mutters, annoyed. “That means I’m going to get another talk from Max about treating you right.”

Jonathan snorts.

Billy glares at him. “Laugh it up, Byers. You think you’re not going to get the same thing from your little brother?”

Jonathan sighs and runs a hand over his face.

Steve probably shouldn’t get such a feeling of fondness from that, but, well, it’s nice to think that the kids care enough to do that.

“So, if it doesn’t have to do with being careful with each other around other people, what does it mean, then?” Nancy asks.

Steve thinks for a while how to explain what he means, since he didn’t do a good job of writing it down. “When you’re in something that’s, like, outside what people normally do, it’s kind of freeing. But you also don’t know what is expected. And those both can make you feel like there are things you can or should do that you’re maybe not ready for. Because you’re already in something risqué, you feel like you might as well do other things that are too. It’s just really easy to push something too far, too fast.”

“That’s really insightful, Steve,” Nancy says.

Steve scoffs.

Nancy puts a hand on his arm. “No, Steve, it’s really smart.” She pulls the notebook back over and thinks for a minute, tapping the pencil on the table. “Let’s see, we have to check in with each other, no, hmm, ‘All of us have to be careful with each other and make sure that we don’t do things with each other just because we can, but because we truly want to do them.. Does that work?”

Steve nods. Billy and Jonathan also agree. Nancy writes it out, then she lays the pencil on the page.

“So, that’s it, we’re doing this,” Billy states, but it still sounds a little like a question.

“Yes,” Nancy says, Jonathan echoing her a second later.

“Harrington, what do you say?” Billy asks.

Steve kind of thought this had been settled, but maybe it needs a final acknowledgement. “Alright, we’re doing this.”

Tension Steve didn’t even realize was in the room clears and everybody smiles.

“So, that offer you made, about showing me sometime?” Jonathan says to Steve.

Steve thinks for a second. “You want a kiss?”

Jonathan nods. “Yes, please.”

Steve slowly scoots his chair away from the table. “Come here, then.”

Jonathan’s eyebrows go up, but obediently gets up and comes over to stand next to Steve.

Steve waves to his lap.

Jonathan frowns, looking unsure.

“Don’t worry, these chairs are really sturdy. Trust me, they can handle this,” Steve says.

Billy makes an interested noise.

Jonathan still looks unsure but settles onto Steve’s lap. Steve rests his hands on Jonathan’s thighs. Jonathan’s a couple of inches shorter than him, but sitting like this, his face is above Steve’s. Steve tilts his head up and to his right. Jonathan then tilts his head down and to his right. There’s about an inch between them and Steve just lets that be, breath mingling until Jonathan sways in closer.

Steve start with little brushings of lips against lips, then he licks his lips, catching Jonathan’s with his tongue. Jonathan leans further into it then. Steve lets it deepen, but also teases Jonathan a bit, barely grazing a particularly sensitive spot just inside his bottom lip, goading Jonathan into taking more from Steve. Jonathan makes a soft noise of want, sinking deeper into the kiss, and someone else inhales sharply. Then Steve starts to ease back, gentling things, before finally pulling back, but not far. Jonathan leans his forehead against Steve’s with his eyes closed as he pants for a second. Then he leans back and opens his eyes.

“Good?” Steve asks.

“My toes are tingling,” Jonathan says.

“It isn’t my toes that are tingling,” Billy says with a smirk, raising an eyebrow when Nancy turns a look on him.

Nancy shrugs. “Definitely not my toes, either.”

Billy blinks at her then laughs.

~~~

When Mike asks on Monday and Steve tells him, Mike looks first baffled, then irritated, then a little grossed-out, ending on thoughtful. “You can do that? Not just have two people together?”

Steve eyes him, “Yeah. I mean, it’s complicated, but yeah.”

“Huh.” Mike is quiet for a while, then seems to shake off what he’s thinking about that and looks at Steve. “Yeah, but Billy? And she’s my sister, but Nancy, she and Jonathan, they- Are you sure this is something you should be doing?”

“Sure? I don’t know if there is a lot you can be sure about in the world, but, like, especially here. I think, though, I would regret it if I didn’t try.”

Mike sighs. “Fine. But no details or anything.”

“What, Mike, you don’t want to hear about me making out with your sister in that chair you’re sitting in? You’re such a prude, man.”

Mike’s mouth drops open in horror. “Ugh! You, you jerk-off!” Mike stomps off.

Steve tries really hard not to laugh, because that still hurts a lot.

It takes Mike a while to come back and when he does, he’s very clearly ignoring that Steve’s in the room.

“Mike, Mike, sorry, man, I just couldn’t help myself.”

Mike just gives him a glare and goes back to ignoring him.

“Come on, I’m sorry. What can I do?”

Mike looks at him and then tilts his head in thought. “Make sure I’m in the room and find a way to say the same sort of thing to Will about Jonathan.”

Steve laughs. “Ow, ow, ow, ow.”

Mike looks both sorry and proud at getting Steve to laugh.

“Look, Mike, thanks,” Steve says, rubbing his chest.

“For what?”

“Just, you know, looking out for me.”

Instead of the sarcasm Steve is half expecting, Mike just says, “Yeah.” He looks at Steve and then away and mumbles something.

“What?”

“That’s what you do for friends,” Mike says, going a little red.

Steve can’t actually say anything for a moment, he’s so touched. “You’re a good friend,” he finally says in a thick voice.

Mike actually smiles at him.

Steve smiles back.

~~~

Steve goes back to school on Tuesday and it’s a pain, in more ways than one. He checks in with Coach, lets him take Steve to the school nurse so that they can both see and talk about the bruising. They end up deciding Steve shouldn’t go to practice this week. The nurse gives him a couple of simple exercises to do, telling him to only do them for two minutes today, upping that by a minute each day and stopping if he gets any sort of sharp pains. She asks him to come in next Monday and she’ll evaluate him again and if she thinks he’s ready he can go to practice then, though she expects Coach to take it easy with him. Coach agrees. Steve finds out then that Rick won’t be back until next week, either. Steve also gets a note from the nurse to show to his teachers if he has any problems or needs aspirin.

Billy, Jonathan, and Nancy do their best to keep him from being bumped into or having to do anything that might be really painful for him, but they can’t always be around him. Billy shares a couple of classes, they all have the same lunch period, and somehow, Nancy talked her and Jonathan into Steve’s study hall. But that still leaves quite a few classes. It’s not too bad because he shares a few with other teammates and they help out (Steve thinks Billy maybe ‘encouraged’ them some because they are more attentive than Steve would have expected). He’s still worn out and in pain at the end of the day, though.

The rest of the week is a little better, but not much. Well, except for the times he gets to make out with Nancy or Jonathan or Billy. Those are pretty awesome. But then Saturday night, the best thing happens.

“I did it. I did it!” Will shouts.

“You did!” Steve shouts back.

Will hugs Steve, which feels a little weird because contact in dreams always does, but it doesn’t matter. Will pulls back at looks at Steve with a huge smile and shining eyes. “I don’t think I’ll need you here anymore.”

“Will, man, you know I’ve been happy to be able to help but thank God!”

Will laughs and the dream wavers and collapses and Steve wakes up with a smile on his face.

Mike shows up Sunday afternoon, to Steve’s surprise.

“Have you talked to Will?” Steve asks, not wanting to give it away if Will hasn’t said anything because that victory and sharing it belongs to Will.

Mike nods. “I know he finally did it and they aren’t going to pull you in anymore.”

“Then you’re here to… learn to cook?”

“No,” Mike scoffs. “You’ve been helping Will for a while, so it’s going to probably take a while before you sleep normally. And, well, you kind of look like shit, so a few extra naps might be a good idea. So, here I am. Through, like Thursday, I was thinking. I mean, I know you’ve got other people who can be here-“

“No! No, if you’re willing, then that’s great, thanks. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Mike shrugs.

Steve can’t help but reach out and hug Mike. Mike actually hugs him back for a second before pushing him off.

~~~

Mike is unfortunately right. Steve does have trouble getting back to anything like normal with his sleep over the next few days. He does get to go to basketball practice, though Coach only has him do individual drills and not near as many as the rest of the team. Which is probably a good thing, since Steve is pretty sure Billy would otherwise intimidate everyone into keeping away from Steve. Some of the drills kind of hurt to do, but they also kind of help, too.

Steve, Billy, Nancy, and Jonathan go out together on a couple of dates hidden as going places as a group of friends, but they don’t exactly go as planned. Steve falls asleep in the movie they go to. And when they go out to eat at the diner off 5th, it seems like everyone Steve knows from school stops by the table. He doesn’t know why until Stephanie Cohen gets him off alone.

Stef asks if he thinks it’s a good idea to hang out with his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, and a guy who was trying to be his rival last semester. And from the look on her face, she probably believes the rumors about fights with Jonathan and Billy (which, honestly, some aren’t that far off from the truth). He tells her they’re starting a band. She gives him an unimpressed look, but at least she doesn’t look worried. Then tells her that he helped out their younger siblings and now they are trying to be friends. Stef seems a little skeptical about them actually becoming friends but seems to believe him. She asks if he’s going to bring them to the party at Lawrence Steinbrenner’s. He doesn’t think that’s a great idea, but he doesn’t say that, instead he hints that he’s maybe seeing someone new and they’re keeping it quiet. She somehow jumps to the conclusion that he’s seeing a college girl and he can’t convince her otherwise. So, that will be all over school. At least no one will expect a kiss from him as a prize, which was all he was trying for.

The next couple of dates are at Steve’s. Those work better, but they’re a little awkward with everyone still figuring out how to be with each other. Steve’s bruising gets better, basketball ends for the season, and Steve’s sleep is almost back to normal, giving Steve free time where he’s not in pain or tired. So, Steve plans out a date.

There’s a carnival the next county over which is open despite it still being pretty cold out. But that means even if someone else from Hawkins would make the drive, they probably wouldn’t do it right now. While he tells Nancy, Billy, and Jonathan that it will take a while to get there, he doesn’t tell them what they are going to do. Nancy and Billy argue most of the way there about all kinds of things (the Russian leader, movie theater candy and popcorn, time travel, nuclear power, and on and on), but there’s no edge to it on either side and they seem to be enjoying it. Steve doesn’t really get it, but he doesn’t think he has to.

When they finally get there, the other three just seem mostly surprised and none of them look bothered, so Steve will take it. It’s a little different, doing this with more than one person. Steve ends up going on the Ferris wheel three times, one time with Nancy, Billy, and Jonathan each. Nancy goes on the Tunnel of Love once each with the three guys. She’s a little embarrassed, but mostly amused by the look she gets from the attendant the last time through. They all go on the roller coaster, then Billy goes again because he likes roller coasters, and with Nancy because he goads her into it.

Steve buys the biggest puff of pink cotton candy he can and gives it to Billy. Billy gives him a look but eats it and Jonathan even gets a picture of it. Steve persuades Nancy to go to the fortune teller’s tent. She comes out shaking her head, saying that she was promised love and money coming her way soon. Steve smiles and hands over the penny he had put in a penny press machine while Nancy was in the tent. The penny is flatter and oval now, with a heart pressed into it. Nancy laughs.

Steve wins a big stuffed purple dragon with shiny wings for Jonathan at the games. Jonathan seems kind of thrown by it, but pleased underneath that. Steve’s sure that Will or El or even Dustin will try to get Jonathan to give it to them. Steve is already half planning to bring the kids here another day.

On the way home, Billy and Nancy are talking about the best rides, but it sounds more like a friendly debate, with Jonathan sometimes chiming in with his opinion. Steve just lets it flow over him, happy to just be, here with them. And when they get back, he can show them the list he finally got around to writing for rule number twelve. Maybe they can even try something out from it tonight. But whether they do or not, Steve knows his dreams tonight will be sweet.

The End