Chapter Text
Okay, so maybe meeting up every single month was not the most realistic idea Steve has ever had.
Everyone was just so upset, and he could feel a growing sense of dread in his chest at the thought of the others moving on with their lives as he stayed behind in Hawkins.
Don’t get him wrong, Steve loved his job. He loved his little baseball Cubs and the sense of wonder they seem to bring into everything they did.
He surprisingly loved teaching, even if it was an awkward intro to Sex Ed to a bunch of giggling middle schoolers.
Steve loved the sense of independence he felt as he steadily worked to save up for his own place in Forest Hill as his relationship with his parents got increasingly more strained.
Most importantly, he loved being around Dustin and the rest of The Party as they finished their high school years. And he did see them all as His Kids in a way– as ridiculous as that felt to say. After everything they have been through, it felt unfathomable to leave.
The rest of their so-called Babysitters Club has always had plans larger than life.
Nancy had already secured a spot at Emerson before the Lockdown From Hell forced her to defer, so it was a no-brainer that she would go. Jonathan has apparently always wanted to go to NYU, but it still took a heavy dose of convincing from Nancy, Joyce— and even Steve himself— for him to accept his offer.
Robin— Robin accepting her offer to Smith College was hard for both of them. They had spent so many years attached at the hip that it felt unfathomable for Steve to not exist in the same state as her. They both spent weeks agonizing over it apart before (yet another) late-night conversation on the bathroom floor, where they cried their eyes out and spilled their guts. The night ended with Robin promising to both call and write him as often as possible and Steve annoying Robin with jokes about what an all-women’s college would do for her game until she screamed and covered her ears to block him out.
So, all in all, it made the most sense for him to stay behind in case… In case of what exactly?
Steve didn’t think it would ever truly feel like it was over.
The town was as peaceful as ever, but signs of hurt remained in every building, every plaque, every faraway gaze from kids who had seen more than they ever should have.
So how could Steve ever leave them behind?
Landing the Coach position was the first breath of fresh air he felt in years.
When he heard about the open position, he was… reluctant. He even sat Robin down and asked her to be brutally honest about his chances, at which point she promptly smacked him on the arm and reminded him that he was the team captain of not one but two sports and could get a glowing reference from just about any parent in their circle after years of carting the Party around.
He was a natural at it. Steve loved his Cubs and was there to cheer them on for every little win.
It felt nice. It felt right.
It also helped that the kids seemed to adore him— especially Derek, who solely joined the team because of Steve. That took place in those first few months post… everything, when Derek still followed him around like a little duckling after Steve pulled him out of whatever gross goo Vecna kept him in in the Abyss.
But… meeting up with Nance, Robin, and Jonathan on the roof of the WSQK reminded him how much he missed them. Seeing them start to cry over the wrongness of moving on and how isolating it felt definitely made his heart clench as he wiped away his own tears.
The ever-growing dread in his chest mounted until he jumped up and started pacing around the roof to get out some of his energy. He has never been good at sitting with his feelings, always preferring to act instead, so before he could even think it over, he blurted out,
“I don’t know, we could…meet up.” He said, with a reluctant smile. “Once a month. Here.”
He was honestly prepared to play it off as a joke and even opened his mouth to do so as he noticed Nancy’s wince, but she beat him to it.
“Yeah, or… or maybe somewhere… just more neutral?” She looked around for suggestions.
“Okay.” Right. Yeah. Steve reckoned they could all do with some neutrality.
“What’s a city between Hawkins, Massachusetts, and New York?”
Jonathan jumped in with “Louisville?” Surprisingly, he looked like he didn’t hate the idea, which made Steve perk up.
His contribution suddenly made the suggestion feel a lot more real. He could see Robin gearing up to argue over the city choice, so he quickly jumped in with, “Uh, Philly!”
“Philly!” she parroted. “I have an uncle who lives in Philly. He’s weird, but he’s got a big house.”
Steve’s heart began to race. Maybe he could have the best of both worlds? Stay in Hawkins, save up for his house, maybe even settle down, but still keep Robin and Nancy and Jonathan in his life.
It felt perfect. As Jonathan started asking Robin about the house’s basement and boiler room for his weird capitalist cannibal movie, Steve felt a weight lift off his chest.
That night, they agreed to meet next month. They parted ways with a group hug that felt like a beginning rather than a goodbye.
—
Except… they didn’t exactly meet up that next month.
Again, it was probably unrealistic for two full-time workers and two students to agree to meet up every single month. Steve did not exactly consider that while everyone else was a few hours drive from Philly, it was roughly ten hours away from Hawkins.
Then, Jonathan got a summer job at a camera store to pay for off-campus housing and Robin started interning at her local radio station for the same reasons. Nance was doing some summer training for the newspaper, and Steve was, unexpectedly, swamped with running a Baseball Summer Camp for Juniors.
He was too scared to bring it up whenever one of them called. What if they indulged him on the roof? Were they ever serious about the meet-up? He was honestly afraid to find out if it had all been a hypothetical.
Against all odds, though, they were able to make plans to meet up two months after that day on the rooftop.
According to Robin, both Nancy and Jonathan asked her about it every single time they called until she had gotten the confirmation from her uncle and interrogated Steve on when he would be free.
And that… that felt good.
He had honestly teared up again when he got off the phone with Robin. It was nice to know they actually wanted this to happen since he didn’t talk to Nancy or Jonathan as often as he did to Robin.
Steve and Robin might have gotten a little (a lot) dramatic over their long-distance friendship. They started writing each other– frankly unnecessary with how often they called– letters, inventing a weird roundabout scenario in which Robin was a husband away at war, and Steve was the doting wife awaiting her at home with their six kids.
Yeah, okay… Steve saw why they could never escape the dating allegations, but it was easier to write about how much he missed Robin while playing some weird character than to honestly pour his heart out over a landline or a piece of paper.
So sue him or whatever, but Steve was now committed to the bit.
He called Nancy every other week and talking to her was easier than he expected. Something about those eighteen months in lockdown really mended their friendship and it was nice to talk to her about their new lives without any lingering awkwardness.
Jonathan… has called exactly once since the rooftop meeting.
Look, it’s not that Steve didn’t want to talk to him. He just… didn’t really know how to.
Ever since Jonathan saved his life on that fucked up radio tower, Steve felt completely tongue-tied around him. Not that he hadn’t always felt that way, but it used to be easy to fall back on snide remarks and well-timed eyerolls before the whole… life-saving business took that away.
Steve could no longer spend his pent-up lockdown energy on getting a reaction out of Jonathan, but he had also never had a proper one-on-one conversation with the guy and frankly did not know if Jonathan would be interested in one.
So… it was just easier not to call. They established they didn’t even like each other in that creepy alternate dimension, didn’t they? Sure, Steve could go with that.
“Um… Hi, Steve. I just wanted to make sure you got your plane ticket for next week?”
Okay, so apparently, Jonathan did not want to go with that.
Jonathan’s first and only call came at eleven at night. Way past the time he came to expect from the kids or even Robin and Nancy.
“Hey! I mean… uh— Hi, Jon!” Steve floundered at the first one-on-one conversation they had had in… that’s a good question actually. When was their last one-on-one conversation?
Another question to add to the many already forming in Steve’s mind.
For example, if Jonathan already knows that he plans to fly out instead of driving, then he must know that Steve has already gotten his ticket. He told Nancy both of those developments on their last call… so why did he call to ask?
“Yeah, man. I’m all set!” he finally responded as his mind spun. “You ready for the drive?”
“That’s good.” It is? “And yeah… I mean, it’s only like a two-hour drive for me. I don’t exactly need to prepare a week in advance.”
Shit. Okay, yeah, that would have been good to remember before speaking.
“Oh,” Steve laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s good, yeah.”
Before Jonathan would inevitably try to hang up on him, Steve continued,
“So, how are things going with you? I mean, I hear some stuff from the girls but… ya know…” Steve trailed off, not really knowing if he was meant to admit that he had been asking the girls about him.
“It’s— it’s actually been very nice here. I honestly keep being surprised that I like New York as much as I thought I would.”
“That’s awesome!”
“I don’t think I ever really thanked you for— um— being one of the people who convinced me to go,” Jonathan said in a rush.
“Of course, yeah. Don’t even worry about it, man.”
“How did your camp go? Sufficiently, turn all those kids into tiny jocks yet?”
Okay, so Jonathan knew about the camp. That made sense.
“It was a lot of fun, actually! Believe it or not, I even got Dustin to chaperone one of our fieldtrips for some cash.”
“Oh, was that when you took them to see Indianapolis play St. Paul?”
Now that was a little weirder. He had only ever mentioned the details of that trip to Joyce when he last ran into her at the grocery store. The others knew he took them to see a game but didn’t really care to ask which one, which suited Steve just fine, so— um— Jonathan?
Maybe Dustin said something to him? Or Dustin said something to Will and he said it to Jonathan?
“Yeah,” he said, standing up taller, “Yeah, actually! It was honestly so cute, I even got the players to sign one of the bats for us and the kids all took turns holding it on the bus back home.”
Steve felt his tone soften as a smile spread across his face. “Uh— Sorry! I’ve been told by some annoying informants that I tend to rant about them a lot.”
“No! No… you’re good, man. Look, I have to go to bed before my opening shift tomorrow, but—” Jonathan paused for a long second, “I am glad to hear you got your ticket.”
“Yeah! For sure!” Steve nodded, even though Jonathan couldn’t see him. “And, hey, make sure to tell me more about your movie next week, okay? I am awaiting more capitalist cannibals, Byers.”
“It’s anti-capitalist- you know what? Yeah, sure, Steve. I’ll… see you next week.”
“Good night, Byers.”
He heard the dial of the phone as Jonathan hung up and ran his hands through his hair. This is probably the most civil conversation they have ever had, if you don’t count the one immediately after Jonathan saved his life.
As if that hadn’t been on loop in his head for months after it happened.
He really needed more male friends his age, Steve thought while getting ready for bed that night. Maybe Jonathan could be a proper friend. They have already gotten halfway there in the last few years, right?
The Philly trip has just gotten a little more interesting.