Chapter Text
steve was pissed at robin.
he knew she meant well. of course she did, she’d never meant anything less. but it just didn’t always work out in steve’s favor.
tonight was what steve had deemed as his “last night of freedom,” aka: the last night before he started his new full-time job. he wanted to do something fun, like have people over for a movie marathon and yap session, but robin absolutely insisted that they go out. steve had done his best to convince her otherwise, but she wouldn’t budge, saying things like, “it’ll be good for you to get out!” and “you’re going to be way too tired to go out at all when you’re working your new job.” although going out wasn’t his idea of fun, and he didn’t want to be up too late with work the next morning, he agreed. but it turned out that robin had only invited him and her girlfriend, so right now, steve was sitting at a corner table with a beer while robin and nancy were making out in the bathroom.
steve sighed and glanced at his phone. they’d only been there for 25 minutes and he was beyond bored. he took a sip of his drink and glanced around. at least robin followed his request to not bring him to a gay bar— if he was going to go out, he at least wanted a chance to find a girl to make out with. however, he thought as he looked around, a gay bar would be better than this. this bar was holding one of those themed music nights, and it was rough. it was an open performance event in which each performer or group had to do an oldies song. some of them had been alright. most… were pretty bad. either way, steve was bored and completely over this train wreck of an evening.
he sat, glancing over at the girls’ bathroom door for any sign of robin and nancy, but neither emerged. it wasn’t until someone got up on the stage and started singing “don’t stop believing” that he decided he’d had enough.
“absolutely not,” steve muttered to himself. he got up off the stool he’d been sitting on and grabbed his drink and his phone, heading for the door to the little outside area at the back of the bar. it wasn’t a formal extension of the bar with chairs or tables or anything; rather, it was an alleyway with some patchy, dead grass, and a singular light that made a buzzing sound. he pushed open the door and sighed as the cool night air hit his face, leaning his back against the brick of the building and closing his eyes for a moment.
”you smoke?”
steve snapped his eyes open. further down the wall to his right was a person, also leaning against the brick wall. the buzzing light was to steve’s left, so this guy was almost completely covered in shadows. the only light was the ash on the tip of his cigarette.
”huh?” steve said stupidly after a second. his eyes had adjusted a bit, but he could still only see the outline.
”you smoke?” the figure repeated. it sounded like he was smirking. “you look like you could use it.”
”oh.” steve turned back to face out at the alley. “no. thanks.”
”suit yourself.”
a quiet fell over the alley, quiet except for the gentle buzzing of the light and the muffled sound of the music inside. steve felt himself calming down a bit now that he was out of the too hot, too loud bar. he took a sip of his beer, the bubbles calming him further. after a few moments, the guy spoke again.
”not a fan of terrible journey covers?”
steve snorted. “no,” he said. “i don’t want to be here at all. anyone on that stage is a fucking loser.”
the guy laughed. “is that so? why’re you here, then?”
”stupid best friend dragged me here,” steve muttered, taking another gulp of his drink.
the guy hummed with amusement. steve side-eyed him and saw that he was taking another drag of his cigarette. “what a shame.” steve turned back out to the alley, unspeaking. he knew when he was being made fun of.
a minute later, steve got a call. he looked down to see that it was robin. sighing, he answered it.
”what?” he said, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
”where are you?” robin shouted over the music and noise in the background. she sounded happy. and tipsy.
”i’m just taking a breather outside, calm down,” steve said, rolling his eyes. she didn’t have a care in the world right now.
”oh,” she said. “okay! want some company?”
”no,” steve said, perhaps a little too quickly, but robin didn’t notice. “no, i just need a few minutes.”
”okay!” robin said. “don’t leave us hanging too long!”
”yeah, okay,” steve mumbled into the receiver. he hung up before robin could say another word and put his phone back in his pocket.
”trouble in paradise?”
steve pursed his lips and looked over at the still-shadowy figure. “what?” he said shortly.
”girlfriend?” the guy prompted.
”oh. no,” steve said, looking back out to the alley. “that— that was the person i came with.”
”ah, the infamous best friend,” the guy said, nodding. infamous? i mentioned her once, steve thought to himself, but he didn’t voice this. “i’m here with some of my own, too.”
”why aren’t you with them, then,” steve said, more to himself than to the guy; honestly, he just wanted to be left alone. however, the guy heard this comment and responded to it like it was a regular question.
”they’re all trying to score inside, y’know,” he said with a shrug. “i needed a breather myself, too.”
steve nodded, but didn’t respond. hopefully this guy would get the hint and go back inside soon. he heard him take a deep inhale, followed by a small cough. a moment later, the guy pushed himself away from the wall and started walking towards steve. steve glanced over just in time to see him step in to the light.
and his heart skipped a beat.
this guy was handsome. not just handsome, though— pretty. that was a pretty man. he looked to be about steve’s age, and had long, wavy black hair that was tied up in a ponytail, revealing a singular small silver hoop piercing his right earlobe. he had wide, deep brown eyes that were framed with slightly messy eyeliner, but it was a good look for him. he was a little shorter than steve and was thin, but seemed to have a bit of a muscly sleeper build. he was wearing a cropped black tank top with the led zeppelin logo on it; clearly, he had cropped it and cut off the sleeves himself, from how lopsided and janky the cuts were. the guy also had on black skinny jeans complete with rips in the knees and black high-top converse. there was a silver chain hanging from his belt loops, and he had a black bandanna in his back pocket. the look was topped off by the various rings he had on and the tattoos that were covering his arms. there was also a tattoo between his pants hem and the top of his cropped shirt, but steve didn’t dare to look at it. he suddenly felt incredibly underdressed in his jeans and white t-shirt.
the guy was getting closer. steve’s eyes went wide and he stumbled back a step. about three feet from him, the guy stopped and smirked as he put his cigarette butt into the smoking receptacle that steve had been standing next to but didn’t even notice.
“you good?” he said, raising a brow. “seem a little jumpy there, my friend.”
”uh, yeah, sorry,” steve said, trying to regain his composure and leaning his back against the wall again. the guy also leaned himself against the wall, but on the left side of his body so he was facing steve. he stared at steve for a moment, clearly waiting for him to say something, but steve didn’t look over, his cheeks burning as he looked out at the alleyway.
after a second, the guy checked his phone. “c’mon,” he said, pushing himself off the wall and strolling past steve to the door, grabbing the handle. “let me buy you a drink.”
steve blinked, staring for a moment too long before holding up his practically-empty beer can. “i— uh— i have one already, so.”
the guy raised a brow and smirked. “alrighty, then.” he pulled open the door and started to head inside.
”i’m— i’m still gonna come in, though!” steve said quickly. “uh, my— my friends, they’re probably looking for me.”
the guy glanced back and gave steve a once-over. without saying another word, he held the door open for steve to follow in after him. steve, internally kicking himself for his awkwardness, followed in after him. what was his problem tonight?
when steve got back inside the bar, he sighed and rubbed his eyes, collecting himself for a second. when he looked back up, he jumped to see robin right in his face. after a quick scan, he realized he’d lost the guy.
”hey!” robin said, a little too loudly. nancy was right behind her, wrapped around her arm. “where were you?”
steve huffed and made his way over to the same corner table he was sitting at earlier. “not making out in the bathroom,” he said shortly.
robin laughed and gave a sheepish smile, but nancy genuinely looked like she felt bad.
”i’m sorry, steve,” she said. “we totally lost track of time.”
robin, picking up now on how upset steve actually seemed to be, dropped her smile and took the seat across from him. “oh, i’m sorry, dingus,” she said, using the usually insulting nickname as a term of endearment this time. “i— yeah, i guess we did lose track of time. and i had a drink or too.”
steve shrugged as nancy took the third seat. “it’s okay,” he said. and even though he was annoyed, he found himself being much less pissed than he was earlier. they didn’t mean it, and it wasn’t worth the fight.
“you want another?” robin said, gesturing to his empty beer can. “i’ll get you another.”
steve shook his head. it was already nine o’clock. “i really shouldn’t,” he said. “i don’t want to be out later than 10, either. i need to make sure i’m rested for tomorrow.”
robin and nancy exchanged glances.
“we’re really sorry, steve,” nancy said, reaching across the table and taking his hand. “let’s do a redo of tonight sometime, okay?”
steve nodded and gave a small smile. he tried to make it look genuine, he didn’t want them feeling bad. “sounds good,” he said. he turned to robin with a smirk. “this time, we’re staying in.”
”fair enough,” robin said, melting back into her normal demeanor (or, rather, her drunk demeanor without the guilt).
at that moment, the bar filled with unenthusiastic and scattered applause as the way too drunk guys who had just sung “don’t go breaking my heart” stumbled off the little raised stage together, laughing and collapsing into each other. robin and nancy turned to face the stage as one of the workers went up to announce the next group. steve turned his attention down to his phone and scrolled through instagram. he’d ask robin and nancy if they could leave in a little while.
”alrighty, thank you very much,” the worker said, sounding like she would rather be anywhere else in the world. “next up, we’ve got a local band from right here in hawkins. please welcome corroded coffin.”
”oh, i love them,” robin muttered.
steve felt the energy in the room shift as the crowd gave a much larger round of applause to these guys than they had for the other performers. he glanced up for a moment, scanning the crowd, but then went back to his phone.
”goooooood evening, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between!”
steve’s head shot up and his eyes widened. it was the guy from the alleyway. on stage. holding an electric guitar.
the guy gestured back to the people behind him and to himself. “we are corroded coffin, truly honored to be playing for you tonight.” as he scanned the crowd, his eyes locked on steve, who was watching in shock. “this one goes out to all the fucking losers who performed tonight,” he said with a wide grin. this sentiment was met with laughs and a couple whoops, but steve felt himself grow hot as he recognized his own words. at that moment, the guy stepped back and took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then leaned in to the mic. in tune to the national anthem, he put on a high-pitched voice and wailed, “wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, WAAAAHHHHHH!” steve furrowed his brows. what the fuck was he doing? the guy slowly opened his eyes and smiled, then stepped back from the mic and yelled, “one, two, three, four!” and the band broke out into the start of the song. after a moment, steve recognized it. it was a billy joel song— what was it called again?
”i’ve been watching you waltz all night diane,
nobody’s found a way behind your defenses,
they never noticed the zap gun in your hand,
until you’re pointing it and stunning their senses.”
fuck. the kid could sing. and he looked damn good while doing it. steve felt his cheeks heat up as the guy continued. his guitar playing was insane, and he was doing a great job engaging the formerly dead crowd.
“all night long, all night long,
you shoot ‘em down because you’re waiting
for somebody good to come on,
but you’re sleeping with the television on.”
steve pursed his lips as robin and nancy clapped along.
”you say you’re looking for someone solid here,
you can’t be bothered with those ‘just for the night’ boys.”
steve blushed hard as the guy stared at him and smirked while he sang that last line. he wanted to look away, but he just couldn’t. was this guy trying to get his attention, or was this just his stage persona? what the hell was going on?
”tonight unless you take some kind of chances, dear,
tomorrow morning, you’ll wake up with the white noise.
all night long, all night long,
you’re only standing there
‘cause somebody once did somebody wrong,
but you’ll be sleeping with the television on.”
at the next line, the guy scanned the audience, once again landing on steve, clearly trying to make the eye contact look as casual as he possibly could.
”your eyes are saying, ‘talk to me,’
but your attitude is ‘don’t waste my time,’
your eyes are saying ‘talk to me,’
but you won’t hear a word,
’cause it might just be the same old line!”
as the guy continued on with the song, he took the mic off the stand and shrugged his guitar off, handing it to the guy on bass, who took his guitar off and kept playing on the electric. the guy began moving and dancing around the stage as he sang.
”this isn’t easy for me to say, diane,
i know you don’t need anybody’s protection.”
full eye contact for the next line. and maybe a hint of… sincerity?
”i really wish i was less of a thinking man,
and more a fool who’s not afraid of rejection.
all night long, all night long,
i’ll just be standing here
‘cause i know i don’t have the guts to come on,
and i’ll be sleeping with the television on.
your eyes are saying talk to me,
but my attitude is, ‘boy, don’t waste the time!’
but i won’t say a word,
’cause it just might be somebody else’s same old line!”
here there was a little musical break. the guy hopped off the stage and started dancing around the tables, engaging the audience, which was incredibly electric. it was a stark contrast to all the previous acts of the night. steve felt his face heat up as the guy made his way to their table. he grabbed robin’s hand and twirled her around, then smiled at nancy. as he passed by, he looked steve up and down and threw him a wink. it was something that, unless you were steve, you would’ve missed it. steve did not miss it.
”all night long, all night long,” he sang, falling into the final chorus,
”we’re only standing here
’cause somebody might do somebody wrong,
and we’ll be sleeping with the television on.”
the guy got back on stage as his bandmates echoed the title in rhythm. he put his mic back in its stand and grabbed his guitar back for the last chord and line.
”oh, sleeping with the television on!”
before the last note even started, the crowd had erupted in cheers and hollers. the guy and looked back and grinned at his band, who all got up and clapped each other on the back, coming forward to the edge of the stage.
“thank you hawkins!” the guy called out to the crowd, raising a hand in the air. “if you enjoyed this— well, actually, i don’t know if you’d like our regular stuff, honestly, because we’re a metal band and not a billy joel cover band. but either way, we are corroded coffin! goodnight!”
robin and nancy cheered loudly along with the rest of the bar. it was clear that they were far and away the best performance of the night. steve watched, stunned, as the guy hopped off the stage.
”they were great,” nancy said, turning around. robin nodded enthusiastically as she chugged her drink. she was clearly pretty drunk already.
“y-yeah,” steve said, eyes ahead and still locked on the guy, who was smiling and laughing with some friends. suddenly, the guy looked up and locked eyes with steve. he smirked at him and steve immediately looked back down, blushing. fuck. of course he’d been caught. why was he even nervous about it anyway? he could look at whoever he wanted. there wasn’t anything weird about it.
”i wanna DANCE!” robin whined, standing up a little unsteadily and throwing her arms in the air. nancy smiled and steadied her. both girls looked at steve. “c’mon, steve, get on the floor with us!”
steve glanced at the girls, then let his eyes wander back to the guy. he felt his breath hitch when he saw that his eyes were still on him. the guy looked at him for a second, then made a subtle gesture to the bathrooms. he threw a wink his way, then disappeared.
”um,” steve said absently, “go ahead. i need to use the bathroom, i don’t— i don’t feel super well.”
robin dropped her arms and frowned. “do you need to go home?”
”no!” steve said quickly. “i’ll be fine. just— just go ahead.”
robin and nancy exchanged a look, but robin shrugged and turned away. nancy, however, narrowed her eyes at steve.
”you good?” she said, low enough that robin wouldn’t hear.
steve smiled and nodded sincerely. “yeah. you go on. take care of her,” he said, gesturing after robin, who had stumbled into someone’s table.
nancy looked over her shoulder and sighed with an exasperated smile. “okay,” she said. “see you in a bit.”
steve watched as the two disappeared onto the dance floor, then stood up shakily. he looked in the direction of the bathrooms, and, taking a deep breath, started to walk over.
what the fuck am i doing? he thought as he squeezed past countless sweaty, drunk millennials. but steve knew exactly what he was doing. for whatever reason, he wanted to go make out with that guy. nothing more, for sure, but he definitely wanted to do that much. he wasn’t even gay. he was just… really horny? yeah.
steve stopped when he reached the bathrooms. there were three: one for the girls, one for the guys, and a single-stall gender neutral one. he sighed and looked between them when someone grabbed his shirt from within the shadows of the overhang of the bathrooms.
“what the—“ he paused to see the guy standing there, smiling, a fistful of steve’s shirt in his hand. the guy scanned steve’s body with an almost hungry expression, then let go and went into the single-stall bathroom, shutting the door behind him; however, the little “vacant” switch didn’t turn to “in use”; he’d left it unlocked. taking a deep breath, steve swallowed and went over to the door, pulling it open and ducking inside. he quickly turned around and locked it behind him. heart was pounding out of his chest, steve slowly turned back to face the inside of the bathroom. there, standing in front of him with his arms crossed and a stupid smirk on his face, was the guy.
and he looked good.
the guy smiled at him. “you actually followed me.”
steve stood stiffly, suddenly hyper-aware of each movement he made. he knew he looked dumb, but he didn’t know what to do about that right now. “yeah.”
the guy laughed a little. “you’re funny,” he said. “and cute. really, really, cute.”
steve opened his mouth but no words came out. he closed it quickly. the guy smiled again.
”on your word, babe,” he said softly, stepping closer so he was only about a foot in front of steve. steve swallowed hard, blinking rapidly. a moment later, he nodded. only a little. but then he nodded faster and more enthusiastically. the guy smirked as he leaned in. he had to tilt his head up just a little, but he gently took steve’s arms and pinned them up against the back of the bathroom door. with that, the guy leaned in and pressed their lips firmly together.
steve let out a little involuntary noise as their lips connected. he could feel the guy smile against him as he did so. taking this as a cue, the guy deepened the kiss and the two started making out. not much different from a girl, steve thought to himself as his body took over and he melted into the rhythm. granted, he wasn’t used to someone else being the dominant one, but— he actually kind of— liked it?
the two continued to make out, getting sloppier until the guy moved his hands to steve’s waist and started kissing steve’s neck. steve sighed and whimpered a little. then, suddenly gaining consciousness of what he was doing, he snapped up. the guy stopped at once and instantly pulled away.
”hey,” he said gently, looking at steve with concern, “you okay?”
”y-yeah,” steve said, stuttering. “i— um, i just felt my phone buzzing,” he continued. “my friends— we— i have to go.”
the guy looked at him for a second, not necessarily with skepticism, but that’s what steve felt. a moment later, he gave him a small, genuine smile. “no problem,” he said. “do what you have to do.”
“thanks.” steve turned to the mirror and his eyes widened to see how disshevled he looked. he could not face robin and nancy like this. he got up close to the sink and threw some water on his face, trying to get the blush to go down.
”so,” the guy said, his eyes following steve with amusement, “what’s your name, hot stuff?”
steve stared hard in the mirror, combing through his hair with his hands as he cleared his throat, which quickly turned into a small coughing fit. “i— no. i’m not giving you my name. and i don’t want yours.”
”you’re not gonna give me your name?” he replied with a smile. “how am i supposed to put you in my contacts then?” he was pulling out his phone.
steve felt his heart skip a beat and instantly cursed it. ”you’re not,” he said quickly. “i don’t— i don’t want to— i’m not gay,” he sputtered out, hissing the last word like it was a curse.
the guy cocked a brow and paused for a moment, then nodded and leaned back against the tiled wall, facing out. “i see,” he said, a hint of sarcasm lacing his voice that made steve lose any hope of him just accepting this answer. “i’m not gay either, actually.” he turned and got so close that steve could feel his warm breath in his ear. “i just like to make out with pretty boys in bars,” he murmured.
steve felt the heat rising in his cheeks and coughed, stepping away and avoiding eye contact. “i— i need to go,” he said.
the guy smirked and stepped back respectfully. “see ya,” he said, throwing steve a wink. and with that, he pushed the door open and disappeared from the bathroom into the crowd.
steve stood, utterly stunned at the whirlwind of emotions he’d experienced in the last half hour. he took another moment to collect himself, then pushed open the door himself; the guy was no where to be found. steve pulled out his phone to text robin and nancy, but instantly jumped about a foot in the air when he felt a tap on his shoulder. he turned to see nancy holding up robin, who was practically asleep.
”you ready?” she called over the music. steve nodded, and the two of them helped robin over to the door. before leaving, steve did one last glance back and scan of the bar to see if he could see the guy, but there was no such luck. the three left the bar and piled into nancy’s car.
as steve laid in his bed that night, tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling, he couldn’t help but replay the events of the evening. what was he doing? god, he wasn’t gay. no sir, not for a second. he must’ve been really horny to do that tonight.
but the funny thing was, he didn’t really feel that horny. he just… wanted to do that. make out with that guy.
whatever. at least steve never had to think about it again. or see that guy again. tonight was a no strings attached kind of night. especially because the guy didn’t seem upset that steve didn’t want to keep talking or do anything more than kiss. it was over and done with.
…right?