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You could cut the tension with a butter knife lately between Steve and Dustin, and between his “I hate the world” attitude and poorly timed insults, Steve was just about finished with that little shit of a kid. It had been the most exhausting year trying to be around him, and Dustin was getting more intolerable by the hour. After that ridiculous fight he pulled, Steve realized Dustin was farther gone down the insane hole than he ever realized.
Clearing his head and taking a much needed beat, Steve searched around the halls for anything they could use to get to Jonathan and Nancy. Finally he saw a door he hadn’t yet tried. Kicking it in with his body, he saw a ladder leaned up against the wall. “Ha- this will do it. See that Henderson I can do more than just play with little balls and rubix cubes…” Steve muttered to himself gloating as he strutted down the hall with the ladder in tow.
Dustin meanwhile, was pacing around the back room, where a giant gaping hole had just formed right where the pathway to where Jonathan and Nancy used to be.
“Out of my way Henderson-” Steve pushed through the door, with the ladder full speed ahead. Lining up the ladder against the hole seemingly perfect, he began to grab the rungs when he felt a hand pull him back
“STOP!!!” Dustin screamed, making Steve jump back in hesitation.
“What the fuck are you doing Henderson?! Get off me!”
“No, no you don’t understand it’s not safe that’ll never work!” Dustin sounded increasingly more desperate this time, but Steve wasn’t budging.
“Yeah, I got it dude, it’s not stable, step back…” Steve shook Dustin’s hand off and he turned to go use the ladder again.
“I SAID STOP!” Dustin forcefully pulled Steve’s jacket back this time causing him to stumble forward into him. His grip like a claw into Steve’s arm.
“Stop being such a stupid asshole!”
“I’m NOT being an asshole! I am TRYING to save Nance and Jonathan here!”
Dustin still had his hands deathly gripped onto Steve, his arms beginning to shake.
“No you’re being SELFISH and you have to stop, PLEASE stop…or you’re going to die…” Dustin was hysterical now, screaming the words as tears fell down his face.
Steve was utterly in disbelief. He had no idea how to process Dustin’s emotional outburst.
“You…you’re going to die if you go on that thing, and I can’t let it happen again, you can’t die, PLEASE, don’t let it happen to me again. I can’t lose you…not you…” Dustin was full on sobbing at this point, putting every deep dark fear of his that’s been hidden on the line.
Steve felt like his heart was being torn up. He stared at Dustin, wide-eyed, completely in shock. “So…this is why the little shit had been so distant, a raging, miserable asshole all year long…” Steve thought to himself. “He was terrified of losing me…”
Before Steve could even form a response, Dustin fell into his chest crying so hard he couldn’t speak clearly. But he managed to get out an “I’m sorry”, which broke Steve’s heart into pieces.
He caught Dustin mid fall, holding him like his life depended on it. “No, no, no” he said, pulling him closer as Dustin continued to cry.
Eventually, letting him let go first, Dustin pulled back. Wiping his eyes, and only feeling mildly embarrassed as he looked over at Steve who was still very much processing.
“Look I-” Dustin started before being cut off.
“No, Dustin wait…is that- is that really how you’ve felt this whole time?” Steve said through a choked voice.
The lump in his throat was coming back now. All Dustin could do was nod, as more tears blurred his vision.
Steve’s eyes filled with sadness of their own as he shook his head at the floor. “Dustin…all that shit I said…back there about Eddie, I didn’t mean it. I just…”
“No, no, don't do that. I was an even bigger asshole man.” Dustin said in an attempt to take some of the guilt off Steve’s conscience.
“No. Just let me say this. I was blind, like really blind all this time, I was so angry at what Eddie did because he made you witness him die, leaving you the most traumatized I’ve ever seen someone, and it just pissed me off to see how angry you were becoming too…”
Dustin felt his heart pounding with hurt as Steve rambled on.
“...and I just…instead of really sitting you down and trying to talk to you, figure out maybe what was really going on in your head I-”
“Steve. You did try and talk to me, SO many times” Dustin said through tears.
Steve shook his head “No, I didn’t do it right. I never just asked if you needed me to just be there with you- let you be angry, scream, or cry it out. I was too hard on you- to even see that you’ve been so scared…”
Attempting to break the tension, Dustin cracked a smile. “Hey well, you’re doing a pretty good last minute job now to that shoulder to cry on suggestion…” “Which sorry I kind of blew up at you there…”
“You mean you saved my life.” Steve grabbed Dustin again by the shoulder, pulling him into his chest once again.
Dustin’s own chest began rapidly beating, as he desperately felt like crying again. It had been so long. But Steve immediately knew that as he began rubbing Dustin’s back.
“Let it go man…” Steve said softly as Dustin turned his face into Steve’s poor shirt and cried some more.
“You were really holding this in weren’t you…” Steve said, his own voice starting to shake.
Dustin could only nod his head up and down.
“You…you have no idea how many times I almost lost it in front of you these past few months…” Dustin said as he stepped back, hiding his face from Steve’s glance.
Grabbing Dustin’s shoulder again, he made sure he really heard this. “You don’t ever have to be scared to tell me how you’re feeling Dustin, you got me? There is nothing you can say or do that will make me leave you or think any differently.”
“You really mean that?” Dustin was a complete blubbering mess, and he kind of hated that it was all furiously coming out at this point, but it was long overdue.
“I never thought I had to spell it out- but if you don’t know you’re my best friend by now…”
“You’re mine too.” Dustin said back, wiping his eyes once again. “Honestly I think the other guys are super jealous of you…”
Steve smirked, his ego getting inflated just the right amount. “Yeah no shit…they should be”
Dustin laughed finally. “Alright, let’s go get Nance and Jonathan, I know we can find something to work- but we might need to talk about your rubix cube strategy on the way…”
Steve laughed at Dustin’s poorly corny, yet accurate joke as the two began to walk off into the unknown.