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Steve had noticed the symptoms for a while, his ears would ring, his vision would blur, his head would ache, and he would sweat. However, what he didn’t want to do was make anyone worry. So he decided his best plan was honestly to just live with it.
Day in and day out he would do whatever he had to do to deal with it, the party had no idea that he was in pain or that he felt sicker than a dog. Some days he would have debilitating pain, ever since Steve had started messing around with the upside down he honestly felt like there was something making his head hurt even more. Any illness he had felt ten times worse, he had always felt like he was burning up when he felt sick.
Steve had no idea what it was that was messing with him, but he was certain he couldn’t let anyone know, he couldn’t tell anyone that he was feeling like this. The party and their little group they had formed since the craziness didn’t need to worry about him too.
Their priority was supposed to be Will and Eleven.
Those were the two that they were supposed to be focusing on, not him, so he would keep hiding it. That was the goal, to not let the kids know what was wrong with him. He didn’t want Joyce or Hopper to be worried about him either. He didn’t want them to fuss, but he didn’t know how to react to any of it either.
Steve was sitting in the classroom, listening to the math lesson when his head began to ache, his vision blurred. He gripped the desk tightly, squeezing his eyes closed.
He tried not to swear, and tried not to yelp as his head continued to ache, but this wasn’t going to just go away either.
As he squeezed his eyes closed again he saw flashes of red. He bit his lip, the upside down was inhabiting his mind in a way that it certainly shouldn’t. He had hardly spent time in it, and while he had been around it yes, he also didn’t think that he should be experiencing what he was with such little contact.
The spores however had infested his mind and body, his willingness to protect the children and push them out of the way while in the tunnels had caused him to get the brunt of the sickness that should have been infecting them all.
“Harrington.”
Steve looked up, and the teacher was standing over him.
“Sorry…” Steve muttered softly. “I-”
Steve turned over and vomited. The teacher stepped back with a look of alarm. “Go to the nurse.” He muttered. Steve nodded and did as he was told once he was finished retching.
This wasn’t embarrassing at all. Making his way to the nurse, he stumbled down the hall. Each step felt like it was pulling the last ounce of his strength.
“Steve?” The nurse looked him up and down carefully. “Are you okay?”
“I- I think I need to go home… I just threw up… all over…”
“Oh.. that isn’t good. Alright let’s get you home.”
She called the Harringtn place, his mother picked up but didn’t seem very bothered. She came to get him, but didn’t even ask further questions. Steve slept the entire way back home, his stomach burning and his head aching.
She helped him into bed and got him a water bottle before going back to her office to work.
Steve was sort of glad at that moment that his mother didn’t ever pry or seem to care even when he hoped she would. He didn’t want anyone to have to know what he was going through, there was too much to focus on to be worried about what he was currently dealing with, yet at the same time all he wanted was to know what was wrong with him.