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1 – Patricia Harrington
Steve sits on the edge of the bed, watching his mother pack. She lingers over every choice, pulling dress after dress from the closet: black, red, and blue evening gowns, sundresses and shifts, even the horrible floral print dress that Grandma Harrington gave her one Christmas, which she never wears.
She considers all of them carefully, holding each garment out at arm’s length, before bringing it in front of her body in the mirror, biting her lip as she studies her reflection every time. The winners are added to her garment bag, or folded in neat, precise lines and tucked into her suitcase, while the losers are discarded in a steadily growing heap on the floor.
It's only a five-day trip, but she's packing like she plans to be gone for a month.
"My first swim meet is Saturday," he says. He just joined the team. Coach said he wouldn't normally have a beginner compete so early, but Steve impressed him.
"Honey, you know your father has to work. This is an important trip for him - he's trying to land a new account."
Steve knows that. He doesn't care that his dad won't be there - he actually feels a little relieved. Richard Harrington is a hard man to please: second is just the first to lose, Steven – he’s heard it more times than he can count.
He’ll probably do better without his father watching – he’ll have more fun at least. But he really wanted his mom to be there.
"It's just a work trip. Why do you have to go?"
His mother's jaw tightens. She tosses a pale cream dress onto the pile on the floor, pulls out a blouse instead.
"He needs my support," she says stiffly.
Bullshit.
Steve knows that after the last big trip, his father came back with lipstick stains on the collar of his nice blue shirt and incriminating receipts shoved into the pockets of his suit pants. He knows that his parents shut themselves carefully away behind closed doors and had a screaming fight that lasted for hours, forgetting that Steve was outside and could hear them through the window overlooking the pool. He knows that his father fired his secretary two days later, and he also knows that the new one is just as pretty as the old one.
He doesn't love you, Steve wants to say. He wouldn't treat you like this if he loved you. Why won't you just stay here with me?
But he doesn't. He doesn't say anything else. He just watches his mother carefully pack her clothes, her jewelry and makeup and perfume, each one a weapon that she will use to fend off her rivals - fighting for the love of a man who isn't capable of the emotion.
His parents leave to catch their flight on Friday morning. They leave Steve with a freezer full of microwave dinners, money for pizza on the counter and the number for their hotel stuck to the refrigerator door. Neither one wishes him luck for the swim meet.
On Saturday morning he rides his bike to the pool, even though it takes thirty minutes of hard pedaling. He's out of breath and sweating by the time he gets there, and Coach frowns at him during warmups. He ends up taking third place, which everyone assures him is great for his first meet.
He doesn’t bother to mention it when his parents come home on Thursday.
2- Tommy and Carol
Tommy steals another sip, filling the vodka bottle back up to the line he has marked with his finger with water from the tap. At this point, there’s probably more water than vodka in the thing. His dad hardly ever touches the Stoli, but when Tommy reaches for the whiskey, Steve speaks up.
“Hey man, that’s enough. My dad is gonna notice.”
Tommy rolls his eyes and Carol groans.
“Ughhh you are so boring tonight. Tell me again why we can’t have a party?”
Steve already explained that he had a migraine earlier, that he's still not feeling great - but it apparently went in one ear and out the other with Carol. Tommy is no better.
"I just want to hang out, watch a movie or something," Steve says. Tommy and Carol look at each other, sharing one of those silent communications common to long-time couples. Tommy looks like he could maybe be persuaded, but Carol looks completely disgusted.
"I'm not wasting my night watching a movie Steve, we're not in fucking grade school anymore," Carol says in a snotty voice. Tommy brays with laughter.
Steve feels so tired. He just wanted... someone. Someone to be there for him, keep him company while he feels like shit - someone to fill up this empty goddamn house, that echoes more and more every day, threatening to swallow him whole.
He thinks of Nancy Wheeler. She's not his usual type - he might never have even noticed her if it wasn't for Mr. Evans assigning her as a tutor to help Steve's faltering calculus grade. She's soft and pretty and just... nice, in a way Steve doesn't see in his usual crowd.
The other day, when he invited her to eat lunch together - he could tell she really wanted to, but her red-haired friend wasn't feeling well so she turned him down.
He watches Tommy and Carol digging through his dad's liquor cabinet. Tommy is already ignoring Steve's request to leave the whiskey alone, cracking the seal on the new bottle; as if Richard Harrington won't notice that.
He's not sure either one of them would ever make a sacrifice for him, not even something as small as missing out on lunch. Would they even be his friends, if he had nothing to offer them?
That's a worse thought than his empty, echoing house.
He punches the pillow beside him and climbs to his feet, raking his fingers back through his hair to straighten it.
"Let's go to Tina's then. I heard she was having some people over tonight."
"Ha! My man - I knew you wouldn't let us down," Tommy crows.
Steve follows the two of them out the door, watching Carol nestle under Tommy's arm, and resigns himself to a miserable night. He can already feel the pulse pounding in his temple, promising a resurgence of his headache.
3 – Nancy Wheeler
The writing was on the wall, really, after that night of the Halloween party. When the burn of alcohol ripped Nancy’s mask away - the one she’d apparently been hiding behind for a whole year.
He was bullshit.
Their whole relationship was bullshit. The little fantasy he'd been building in his heart - the dream of marriage and family and a house full of love rather than jealousy and mistrust - it was just a sandcastle, built too near the edge of the sea.
And now the waves were lapping at the walls, crumbling them, dissolving it all back into nothing as Nancy Wheeler looks up at him with her sweet blue eyes, pinched little mouth twisted uncomfortably.
"I'm so sorry Steve. I never meant to hurt you."
"It's okay Nance. I understand."
He does understand, is the thing. He sees how they are together, Nancy and Jonathan, sharing a new sort of closeness, a connection that he's not sure he and Nancy ever had.
He first saw it when he ran into them in the woods outside of Hawkins Lab – standing side by side, pressed together from shoulder to hip. And then the way Nancy watched Jonathan so carefully, as they tried to free Will from the mind flayer. It’s why he encouraged her to go with Joyce and Jonathan, why he offered to watch over Mike and the rest of the kids.
Why was it so easy for her to look at Jonathan like that, after only a matter of days? When an entire year wasn’t enough for her to fall in love with Steve. Did she ever want to be with him? Or was she just waiting for Jonathan to make his move the whole time; waiting for the timing to line up so she could be with the guy she really wanted?
It seems like Steve was just a rest stop, a temporary distraction. Getting past the initial hurt, he's not even surprised.
Not really.
4 – Robin
Steve has his selections ready to go: Just One of the Guys, Teen Wolf, and Commando. Three movies that Robin will have to choose from - that's the rule. She’ll hate every single one of them, but last week she gave him nothing but black and white movies from the 30’s, so he's not going easy on her this time.
He looks up when the bell over the door dings cheerfully. Robin is shrugging on her green Family Video vest, getting her arms stuck as she bounces up and down in excitement.
"Steve!! Steve, Steve, Steve - you're not gonna believe it. I finally did it. I can't believe it!! Oh my god, I finally did it."
"Woah, slow down - what did you do?"
"I asked Vickie on a date! A real date - like to the movies, except our movie theatre is still a pile of rubble so we have to drive thirty minutes out of town, and I don't drive, so I guess Vickie is actually the one taking me on a date. But it's an actual date!"
"What?! Oh my god Robin, that's great!" He wraps an arm around her shoulders, practically dragging her over the counter in his excitement.
He's so proud of her that he forgets all about movie night, until he feels her shoulders tense under his arm.
"Shit Steve - I forgot."
He realizes that she's looking at his movie selection, laid out on the counter waiting for her. He immediately sweeps the tapes off the counter, sending them clattering into the returns bin.
"Come on Rob, who cares? It's one movie night - you getting a date is way more important!" He refuses to allow even a hint of disappointment to creep into his voice. This is a happy moment.
At the back of his mind though, in the deepest, darkest corner of his thoughts, he knows it won't be just onemovie night. This is the beginning of the end. They'll start dating, and become a couple, and then Friday nights will be for Robin and Vickie.
He always knew this was coming. If it wasn't a girlfriend, it would have been college, whenever Robin saves up enough money for it. He thought he had more time, is all.
He can see it in her face, in the wet shine of her eyes, that she knows what he’s thinking. Of course she does – it’s like she can read his mind; she knows him better than anyone else in the world.
Steve wraps her up in a hug before she can say anything else, pressing his cheek to the top of her head as her arms come up, fingers twisting in the back of his shirt.
Even if things change – even if people and places come between them – she’ll always be his best friend. The sister of his heart.
The ding of the bell over the door startles them apart. Robin sniffles a little, scrubbing her face roughly over the back of her shirt sleeve. Steve turns to the entrance, customer service smile pasted on his face before he realizes it’s Eddie.
He looks good standing there in the doorway, late afternoon sunlight setting off the reddish undertones of his hair as it shines through his frizzy curls. The stitches are all gone, the wounds on his face and neck almost completely healed, even though his smile is still a little lopsided.
Steve feels his own smile melt into something softer, warmed by real affection as Eddie swaggers over to the counter, chains ringing softly.
“Hey, you should have movie night with Eddie!” Robin announces loudly. Blood rushes to Steve’s face, burning hot in his cheeks. Robin is well aware of his budding crush on the other boy – that was a conversation that resulted in the consumption of an entire tub of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream between the two of them, sitting on the cold floor of the Harrington’s kitchen.
Eddie’s eyebrows shoot up into his fringe, eyes gone wide with feigned shock. “What happened to the famous Harrington/Buckley movie night?”
Steve clears his throat. “Robin’s leaving me high and dry, I guess.”
“Well we can’t have that,” Eddie croons. “Count me in.” He’s leaning halfway over the counter at this point, dark eyes swallowing Steve’s attention like a black hole, sucking in all the light in the room. He hears Robin rooting through the returns bin for his movie choices.
“Pick whatever you want.”
Eddie grins brightly and flounces off to the shelves to search for a movie, while Robin sticks her tongue out at him.
5 – Dustin
They planned this a month ago – Dustin begging and pleading with Steve to drive the kids to the Halloween Festival outside of Indianapolis. It’s not really Steve’s thing; he’s always been more of a “getting drunk at a Halloween house party” kind of a guy - and he hasn’t done that since Nancy broke up with him.
He was looking forward to hanging out with the kids though. It seems like he hardly ever gets to see them anymore – they’re all so busy with sophomore year and readjusting to having the Byers family back in Hawkins.
He misses Dustin especially. The kid’s stretched thin these days: even though Eddie’s name was cleared, Principal Higgins banned the Hellfire club at school, so Dustin has been running a new D&D group while also attending Hellfire sessions at Eddie’s place on the weekends. Between that, talking to Suzy every other night, and trying to keep up with his grades, he doesn’t have a lot of time for Steve.
So even though some big nerdy costume party isn’t his idea of a good time, he was still kind of excited.
But when he pulls into the Henderson’s driveway, Eddie’s van is already there. The rest of the kids are bundling inside, Dustin wrestling with his costume – which seems to involve a lot of painted foam. When he sees Steve, he freezes. “Oh shit, Steve, I totally forgot.”
Eddie is looking back and forth between them, pale makeup smeared over his face making his dark eyes even darker, almost black in the early evening twilight. He has a set of plastic vampire teeth sticking out of the pocket of his vest.
“I asked Eddie about going, and he was really excited, you know, it's more his thing than it is yours... so I meant to tell you that we wouldn't need a ride. But hey, plus side - you can go to a party you'll actually enjoy now!"
The thought of trying to crash some high school or college party, full of people he hasn't spoken to in years at this point, is so fucking depressing he can't even respond.
Dustin is fighting with his costume again, but Eddie can clearly tell that something's wrong. His face softens into something that looks suspiciously like pity as he takes a step forward. "Steve..."
Steve steps back sharply, clutching his keys tight enough that they cut into his palm.
"Yeah, absolutely - that's fine. You guys have fun." He whirls around, fumbling at the door of the BMW before Eddie can actually say anything, before the kids notice that anything is wrong.
He pulls out so fast the tires spin a little, and he resolutely does not look back in the rearview mirror as he drives away from the Henderson house. He goes to the Circle K with the lax clerk who never cards, and picks up a six-pack of Budweiser’s, which he carries out to the quarry.
It’s not jealousy anymore, not of Eddie. He likes Eddie – more than he probably should. (Robin says his little crush is getting out of hand.) The feeling is more like…. not getting picked for dodgeball on the playground. It’s the same way he feels when the kids are all talking about D&D and he’s hopelessly lost – left out.
It’s a uniquely lonely feeling – knowing that you aren’t anyone’s first choice. Knowing that everyone in your life has something (or someone) more important than you.
+1 – Eddie
Steve tosses the walkie into the backseat with a sigh. He’s a little surprised that Dustin took it so well when he radioed to let him know that he would have to find another ride to Eddie’s.
Blowing a tire, only to find that the spare is also flat -that’s the sort of thing the kid would normally give him shit over. But Dustin has been unusually polite lately, ever since Halloween. A week after the infamous costume party, Will confided that Eddie had chewed them all out during the drive - especially Dustin. “He was really mad. I’ve never seen him get that angry before.”
Which would definitely explain the change in attitude. Dustin idolizes Eddie – he must have been crushed. It’s weird though; why would Eddie have been so upset?
Steve walks the two miles down the road to the nearest 7-eleven, where he uses the pay phone outside to call AAA. A gruff sounding man named Carl informs him it will be two hours -minimum - before a tow truck can get there.
“Thanks,” Steve sighs. He hangs up, listening to the metallic rattle of coins dropping into the bank of the phone. With nothing better to do, he buys a coke, a bag of onion rings, and the November issue of Hit Parader - which caught his eye because of the list of barely familiar band names, including Metallica and Iron Maiden. It made him think of Eddie as he ran his fingers over the glossy cover (and the giant picture of Bon Jovi wasn’t bad to look at either).
He trudges the two miles back to his car, brown paper bag tucked under his arm. When he reaches the BMW, he’s met with an unexpected sight – a battered van parked behind his car, with a familiar dark-haired figure standing outside.
Eddie pushes himself out of his lean against the van, waving wildly. “Shit,” he calls out, “I was starting to think you’d been kidnapped or something!”
Steve is a little stunned. “What are you doing here?”
Eddie throws open the back doors of the van, revealing a tangled pile of old blankets and pillows that smell strongly of cigarette smoke and weed. “Dustin said you were stranded on the side of the road. Thought you could use some company.”
He climbs inside, patting the pillows beside him. Steve hands him the bag from the gas station, gripping the frame of the van to help pull himself in. Eddie immediately opens the bag, crowing with delight when he spots the magazine. “Didn’t realize you had such good taste Harrington!”
Steve blushes. Hopefully the other boy doesn’t ask any questions, or he might have to admit that he only bought the magazine because it reminded him of Eddie. “What about Hellfire though? You guys are supposed to be playing your game right now.”
Eddie just shrugs. “I cancelled it.”
Eddie never cancels Hellfire. He's famous for it - Steve has heard the kids complain a thousand times about it. He wouldn't cancel when Lucas was playing in the championship game, he wouldn't cancel when Mike had to get his tonsils out - he wouldn't even cancel when a storm knocked power out for the entire neighborhood. They played by candlelight interspersed with lightning flashes according to Dustin, and Eddie called it 'ambience'.
"Dustin said you never cancel Hellfire. Not for anyone."
"Well, you're a special case Stevie. You haven't figured that out yet?"
Steve meets his eyes, startled to realize how close they are. They're sitting side by side, pressed together from shoulder to hip, leaning into one another's space even though there's plenty of room in the back of the van. Eddie's head is tipped to the side, angled toward Steve, and the look on his face is almost unbearably fond.
“How special?” Steve asks.
Eddie swallows hard, a determined expression coming over his face, like he’s preparing himself to jump off a cliff; or maybe like he’s about to step through a gate into the Upside Down. "Don't punch me okay?"
Steve just stares at him, totally bewildered as Eddie reaches for his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing lightly. His palm is warm and a little clammy, and Steve can feel the edges of his rings press into his skin. Eddie raises their joined hands to his face and presses a gentle kiss to the back of Steve's hand.
"I would pretty much do anything for you," Eddie whispers. "I'm kind of in love with you, if you hadn't noticed."
Steve has not noticed - not at all. They've been hanging out for months, spending more and more time together, and in that time Steve's little crush has gone from a spark to a blaze; but he never imagined Eddie might feel the same way. A hundred little moments suddenly take on new significance. All the times Eddie just "happened" to show up when Steve needed him - cancelled band practices and plans falling through, finding excuses to stay over when Steve’s nightmares were troubling him.
Eddie is very good at misdirection - hiding his feelings in plain sight. All this time he’s been dropping hints, and Steve’s been clueless.
Steve might be slow to catch on, but once he gets there he doesn’t hesitate. He shifts his weight, swinging a leg over Eddie’s hips so that he’s settled in the other boy’s lap. He tugs his hand free so that he can cradle Eddie’s face between his palms, running a gentle thumb over the scars on his cheek, before leaning in and pressing their lips together.
When he finally sits back, he smiles down at Eddie’s dazed expression. “You should have said something sooner. I’m kind of in love with you too.”
Eddie laughs - a little disbelieving, eyes shining with unshed tears - and pulls Steve back in by the collar of his shirt.
They kiss until two blasts of a horn announce the arrival of the tow truck. They spring apart, giggling breathlessly, Steve tugging his shirt down while Eddie pets ineffectually at his hair, trying to smooth it back into order.
Steve pauses before he jumps out of the van and says, "Want to come back to my house after I get my tire fixed?" He bites his lip just so he can watch the way Eddie's eyes lock onto his mouth.
Eddie smiles at him, wild and bright. "Sweetheart, there is nowhere in the world I would rather be.”