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“Car! Car get in the car!” Steve was yelling, standing at the hood of the car.
“Yeah we are interested though.” Mike commented to Eddie as they walked slowly.
“Henderson! Wheeler! Sinclair! Car now!” Steve shouted again.
“That’s Harrington?” Eddie looked dumb founded.
“Can you suddenly not here me?” Steve tried shouting. Robin opened the passenger door.
“Guys! He’s going to have an aneurysm! Let’s go!” She shouted.
“Yeah.” Mike said with his head in his hands.
“See you tomorrow!” Dustin yelled at Eddie moving faster as Steve continued to slap his hands together in stress.
“Yeah what Dustin said!” Lucas called back.
“Car now! We have work!” Steve yelled again. Mike finally stopped talking to Eddie and ran to the car as well. The kids climbing in the back.
“Sorry.” Could be heard from Henderson.
“You’re gonna be sorry!” Steve said in an exasperated tone as he got back in the car.
What the hell was that?
Eddie meets Max four days later, he had seen her around, but she looked tired today more than usual, it was a Friday she had all weekend to sleep. He just would have skipped in all reality. Reason of the meeting? She was awkwardly standing where he was trying to smoke a cigarette.
“So you are?” He blew a puff.
“Max.”
“So Max, why are you out here?”
“Waiting for something.”
“Ah yes, what would that something be?”
“My lunch. Why? Am I bothering you?” She had snark.
“Mom dropping it off?” He asked her casually.
“Something like that.” Not two minutes after her statement he saw a familiar BMW pulling up.
“What the fuck does he want? He graduated he can stay away.” Eddie muttered. The car stopped in front of him. Great, great Eddie turned some.
“Max, did you eat breakfast?” He was getting out of the car as Max walked to get whatever he had.
“The pear you gave me in the car. Sorry I forgot my lunch.”
“A pear is not breakfast. You need more than a pear.”
“Next time I’ll just throw it at you.”
“Max come on, we’ve talked about this.” What exactly have they talked about.
“I know. Thank you.” She said genuinely, tucking herself in for a quick hug.
“See you after school?”
“Yeah. See you after school.” She confirmed, Steve eyed Eddie for a second before he nodded an acknowledgment at him and got back in the car, driving off.
“What’d you get?” Eddie laughed some.
“Um,” she looked in the bag, “a sandwich, two packs of fruit snacks, two juice boxes, if Dustin forgot his lunch too he just could have given it to me,” she says off handedly rolling her eyes before continuing, “an apple, and sliced cucumber. He read in a magazine about two weeks ago how many fruits and vegetables we should be eating. It’s not going well for him.” She laughed some.
“Why does he care?”
“Real reason or the reason he gave us?”
“Eh, why not both.”
“Real reason? He has control issues and he's too damn protective to just let it go. Reason he gave us? He wants us to grow up big and strong.” Eddie choked a bit how she said it.
“He said that?”
“Yeah, picture like the most annoying parent and then his god damn hairspray and you have Steve.” She was walking into the building as she said. He wanted to ask more questions, but she was gone by the time he could think of anything.
He’s walking to his van when Robin Buckley bumps into him from behind.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry I have band practice.” She tried explaining quickly.
“Other way Buckley.” Eddie commented.
“I forgot my trumpet!” She yells again pushing past him, half way up the steps he sees Harrington pushing down the other side.
“Sorry, excuse me, sorry. Robin!” He calls to her, her eyes light up.
“Thank you thank you thank you!” She calls as she reaches him, he’s holding her trumpet case.
“Of course! See you after practice! Get a move on you’re gonna be late!” Steve calls, she’s turned around again running down the steps, she stops, turns around and called something in another language to him.
“Love you too weirdo! Now hurry!”
“I am dingus!” She calls back. Eddie at this point is high enough on the steps he can make a comment and see if he responds.
“So, girlfriend forgot her trumpet?” He doesn’t look over. He doesn’t say his name. He just asks the wind. Steve doesn't reply.
“She’s not his girlfriend.” He jumped as the answer came from behind. Max was staring at him laughing some, Steve turned around then.
“Red! Missed you there! I was going to drive around to the pick up line to get ya.” Steve says casually.
“I wanted shot gun. Dustin isn’t gonna run up these steps.”
“Does he know I’m up here?”
“No, Robin told me and I know where you’d park.” She has a devious grin. They reach the top of the steps and Eddie realizes he didn’t ask the wind anymore questions. He had more about Steve and Robin though.
“Robin didn’t want-”
“I know she didn’t want anyone to know she forgot the one thing she needed today. She isn’t quite when she calls you freaking out from the library.”
“At least she remembered before practice.” Steve justified with a laugh, before opening up the passenger door to let her in the car.
He wasn’t keeping track. He wasn’t keeping tabs in a little notebook. He wasn’t counting the times Steve dropped the kids off in the morning or picked them up. He didn’t have a tally count. He just was confused and the last six pages were well hidden in his notebook to prove it, but also not on the last page incase anyone looked and saw a little crown with tally marks.
“Are you going to homecoming?” Dustin asked him at lunch.
“Do I look like someone who would go to homecoming?”
“See, told you it was lame.” Mike said in a pointed tone.
“Steve said we should go!”
“Of course that asshole said that, it’s not worth it trust me.” He turned to see Lucas looking down, “Sinclair, you’re not listening to him. Right?”
“I mean, Robin and Max went dress shopping last weekend and had fun.”
“They didn’t find dresses.” Mike mumbled.
“Yeah, but they’re going again tomorrow. And Steve said if they couldn’t find anything he’d make sure they did.”
“What does that even mean?” Eddie looked at him, a little confused.
“Oh, he sews.” Eddie looked at him like he just said Harrington owned a damn spaceship, he sews?! He cackled some before responding.
“I’m sorry what?”
“He sews. It’s like a hobby.” Lucas explained.
“He sews… as a hobby?” He clarified.
“He technically prefers the term quilting.” Mike said.
“He can get the term back when he stops sewing clothes and goes back to the blanket shit.” Dustin laughed some.
“What’s he making?” Eddie asked.
“El’s homecoming dress. She’s in California and she didn’t like a single thing she tried on so Steve told her he got it covered.” Mike said.
“Your girlfriend is going with someone else?”
“Yeah, her brother, Will.”
“The Byers didn’t have a girl.” Eddie keeps getting confused. Mike has explained this before, but it just what?
“Hopper did. Remember?”
“I guess.” Eddie can’t remember the girl. He tries to picture her, if he ever saw them together all those days at the diner he saw hoper, he can’t place her though.
He thinks about it through lunch. He tries to picture Harrington sitting where he always pictured a grandmother he couldn’t remember sitting, doing careful stitches. Making sure there were no imperfections. It was a sweet thought almost, but so unbelievable.
“Did you sign up for the bake sale?” Max asked Dustin, she had her Walkman around her neck. She had approached the two, ignoring Eddie.
“Yeah, I did. Actually, let me rephrase. Steve did.”
“PTA?” Max said in a very knowing tone, what the hell was happening.
“The damn PTA. Did you hear what Lydia did though?” Dustin said to her. He was now invested in the drama. Who was Lydia? What did she do?
“Oh shit, what did she do!” Good question Max, good question.
“Tried to say her fundraiser idea was most profitable.” Oh. It’s still about the PTA.
“No way, no she didn't. What’d Steve say?” Steve went to the PTA?
“To quote Erica, he had the facts, clearly her candy sale under performed. Especially when he brought up the fact he nearly doubled that profit selling water during football games for the band.”
“I’m sorry, back the fuck up, what?” Eddie asked, he was supposed to be brainstorming DND NOT hearing that Harrington went to PTA meetings.
“Steve, he goes when Robin’s mom can’t.” Max looked at him confused, why was she the confused one in this situation?!
“Why?”
“To show the other moms he’s just as good if not better than they are. He’s still competitive outside of high school, just you know, it’s against the other moms.” Dustin said casually.
“So, he signed you up for the bake sale?”
“All of us actually.” Dustin said.
“You should try the cheese cake squares.” Max commented. Okay he smoked too much last night, his shit was laced, this was wrong. This was a bad trip.
“He let you have one! Ass, he slapped my hands away.”
“Because you take like four at a time.” The girl was laughing some. Eddie saw Robin at her locker, Max ran up ahead to whisper something. Robin had no sense of being quiet, didn’t acknowledge Eddie or Dustin instead loudly saying:
“What didn’t everyone get a cheese cake square in their lunch today?” Dustin threw his arms up.
“What the hell! I’m the favorite.” He pointed at himself.
“Ooooo, tough break Henderson. You might need to reevaluate that.” Robin laughed some. Definitely a bad trip.
Two days later he had to admit, the cheese cake squares were good.
It wasn’t until the day he decided they should play DnD on a Wednesday did he really see what Steve was capable of. He didn’t think much of it, it was agreed upon at lunch considering the drama room was free for the first time that wasn’t a Friday in weeks, well two months to be exact. It was perfect until almost an hour in.
“You enter the forrest…” they heard clattering as if someone was coming in the school.
“Henderson! Wheeler! Sinclair!” Was heard off in the distance, the three looked at one another.
“Who is that?”
“Henderson! Wheeler! Sinclair!” it was getting closer.
“Is that… is that Harrington?” Gareth asked.
"Henderson! Sinclair! Wheeler!" closer.
"No way." Jeff added.
"Mike! Dustin! Lucas!" first names now.
"No, that sounds like Harrington." Eddie agreed.
"Dustin! Lucas! Mike!"
"Is someone going to answer him?" Eddie asked, the kids didn't look up.
“For the love of God, this was Robin’s last guess.” Eddie looked to the kids, he could hear desperation when he spoke those words. What the hell.
“You want to go get that? I think that mental break down is for you.”
“Steve!” Mike called out, an annoyed tone was evident. They heard another crash, Harrington definitely hit the door that was a pull not a push, and saw and red faced, he swore tear streaked cheeks, out of breath, and frazzled hair.
“You three.”
“Oh no.” Mike muttered.
“We have fucking walkie talkies for a reason!" he hit his hands to together with each word, "I have a phone at my house. I have a phone at Family Video even where you know I worked until two. No one called. Max stayed home today. I waited and waited by the walkie for someone to call her. Or me for that reason. So, now I am on a fucking manhunt for you three little shit heads. You were supposed to ride the bus to my house when Max and I were at the doctor today. I have been to every single” Dustin had gotten up and hugged him at this point. Steve paused for a moment before holding him near him.
“Sorry.” Dustin whispered.
“You can’t do that to me. You can’t.” He was still out of breath, he was running his hair in Dustin’s hair, slowly the other kids got up.
“We know.”
“I want you to reverse the situation for a second.”
“Why is Steve Harrington in the middle of the drama room?”
“Gareth, shut up.” Eddie said then, laughing a little bit.
“Oh shit, yeah you’re at your game.” Steve was laughing a little.
“Yeah, we are.” Mike was laughing some.
“A phone call next time for your girlfriend too please, and Robin actually. She’s also have a breakdown, but she’s in the middle school. We weren’t sure where you little assholes would be.” He laughed a little. The walkie went off in his back pocket.
“They aren’t here. I looked everywhere. Is it out? Do I say out? This is why we don’t separate.” He clicked the button.
“I found them in the drama room. Over.”
“Coming now.” Dustin laughed.
“Give it to me.”
“Robin, do you copy? It’s Dustin over.”
“You are so dead, all of you, you are safe right?”
“You have to say over Robin. Over.”
“You little shits, I am having a god damn panic attack over you all.”
“I will go stop Robin from bursting him here.” Steve laughed some.
“Like you did?”
“Yes, Sinclair, like I did.”
“Are you okay?” Wheeler had a hint of concern, holy shit it’s a miracle.
“Yeah, yeah, I am, I am great. You’ll be done at five Munson? Or is it seven like on Fridays? But they probably have homework and they need to be in bed at a reasonable hour. You need to remember that.”
“Um, yeah, five works.” Eddie stuttered a little.
“Great, great. See you kids at five, let me go grab Robin and I have to call Max.” Steve smiled at the table.
“Love you.” Dustin said, Steve paused a moment.
“Love you too.” Steve said with a slight smile.
Eddie had his mouth open like a fish as Harrington left, an awkward little wave and he hit the door once more. He had the walkie talkie out of his back pocket again, already rambling to Robin Buckley on the other side.