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They’re not kids anymore.
Not even Erika and Holly, the youngest. Damn, they have now the age Steve had when they all fought Vecna - and won.
But Steve can’t simply stop worrying about them all, he can’t! He still feels responsible for them all, even now that their biggest threat is college and to find a job and mundane things like those are.
Steve is not going to change, first of all, because he only talks about all the shit he went through with Robin and Eddie. None of them know how to deal with all those fucked memories and badly healed wounds, and the only thing that Steve has to cope with the background pain is, well. To care for the family he found long ago.
That’s why, when Dustin appears in Steve and Eddie’s flat in a mood, his brow furrowed and mouth screaming curses and insults towards them, Steve’s first reaction is to check if Eddie is still there.
The last time Dustin was angry like this was because he had lost Eddie. They all had. Steve had lost Eddie, and panic rises through Steve’s trembling body. But Eddie appears from his music studio at home, yelling back at Dustin about modals.
Eddie hugs Dustin even if Dustin tries to fight it off - badly feigned --, and Eddie smiles at Steve, with Dustin’s head in his arm in a grip.
“See, Harrington?” Eddie laughs at Dustin’s weak attempts to escape his hold. “Have kids, they said. It’ll be amazing, they said. And they come home like this!”
“I’m not your son, you b-”
“Dustin Strawberry Henderson-Munson-Harrington! Watch your mouth!”
“That’s not my second name!”
“Your mom and I-”
“Do not mention my mom!”
“Your mom Steve and I didn’t raise you for you to be a little shit!” Eddie laughs loudly, and Steve’s heartbeat starts to calm down, watching them play like this. He doesn’t even mind that his last name was the last on Eddie’s list of surnames.
“Ok, ok, you two stop,” Steve says, smiling softly at them both even if he tries to keep the things light. “But Eddie is right, why are you acting like a prick in our home?”
It’s fun to have Dustin around. Always has been the funniest and the most clever boy, and yes, he’s Steve’s favourite even if he feels guilty about it. But Dustin is annoying when he’s upset about something.
Eddie finally releases Dustin and the kid starts ranting off about a lot of things that make no sense for Steve. Something about a project he’s working at, something electronic and clever for the engineering he’s studying, about Lucas and Max that were mean to him some time ago… Steve looks at Eddie, who shrugs at him with a wide smile, letting him know that he’s not understanding Dustin either. They both are happy that their favourite kid is at home, and that’s all what matters.
“And I broke up with Suzie-”
“Wait, what?!” Eddie and Steve yell at the same thing, startling Dustin and stopping the rant.
“You broke up with Suzie?”
“When? When did you break up with her?”
“I thought you two were doing well!”
Dustin sighs and he looks down, cheeks reddening.
“Dustin, when did it happen? You could have talked to me, maybe you can talk to her, maybe we can help you fix it-” Steve says confidently.
“No, I- I don’t want to fix it, I’d rather be alone for a while, you know?”
-
“Do you believe Henderson?” Eddie asks the moment Dustin is fast asleep in their guest room/Eddie’s music studio.
“About Suzie and that he wants to be single and that it was mutual agreement?” Steve asks, and immediately adds. “Fuck if I believe it, that’s all bullshit.”
Eddie nods, getting naked into bed. Since they started living together, Eddie decided that he didn't want to use pajamas anymore. Steve looks at him, his slim body covered in tattoos and scar that matches the set he has as well. War memories flood Steve’s mind again, and the best he can do now is to get onto bed and hug Eddie tightly, Steve squeezes him in his arms until their bodies are tangled, and waits for Eddie to shut down the lights.
“I know, right?” Eddie guffaws.
“He has been hinting for a while that he was going to break up with her, but I never bought it, to be honest.”
“What? When?”
Steve hums, trying to recall the moments Dustin has been acting weird and/or hinting that he and Suzie were not suited for each other.
“I think the first time he said something about it was during Lucas’ birthday, remember?” Steve explains, burying his nose in Eddie’s hair. “Max asked him about Suzie and he answered as if he was under attack. And then, during one of your DnD sessions, the same thing happened. Lucas or Max, or Erika maybe? One of them asked Dustin about his relationship with Suzie and he yelled something like “why are you subjecting me to the third degree?”. Dunno.”
“Wasn’t he into Max as well?” Eddie asks. “Will said to me that they both were annoying about that, to say the least.”
“Oh, fuck, you’re right.” Steve sighs. “I hope not, Max and Lucas have been together since forever and Dustin seemed ok with that, but who knows.”
“Poor Dustin if it’s about Red,” says Eddie, and Steve has to agree.
“Maybe it’s another thing.”
“Hm?”
“What if it’s because Suzie is a Mormon and they can’t be together?” Steve asks, then. “Maybe Dustin is just tired of not being with her for real, like, they only talk via radio, right? That must be awful. How many times have they been together? Like, face to face?”
Steve knows that Eddie is thinking about it, and that for some time they weren’t able to be together. Eddie turns around until his face is on Steve’s chest, his arms around his broader body. Steve hugs him tighter. They both need to reassure that the other is there.
“If that’s the case, then so be it,” Eddie mumbles, his voice sad. “Dustin was always talking about how he wanted to go see her but she was always busy and shit. Our kid deserves better.”
“Yeah, fuck, he does!” Steve agrees, brows frowning. “Maybe it’s better this way, Dustin can find someone else who actually is there for him, right?!”
—-
Introducing Dustin’s POV.
Steve and Eddie have been acting weird for weeks now. Since he told them about the breakup, they both had been trying to get him to meet girls his age, to the point that they look completely maniac. Steve and his tips on how to flirt with girls, antics that Eddie always laughs at. But Eddie is even worse at trying to talk about girls with him, making up stories on the spot, and offering to teach him to play guitar to impress girls.
Dustin has never regretted something this badly, he shouldn’t have told them about Suzie. Luckily, their weekly DnD session is about to start, and Eddie takes it too seriously to keep giving him awful advice about flirting while playing. And yet, Dustin is waiting for someone else to arrive so he doesn’t have to face Eddie alone.
“Hey, there, Dusty-bun!” Mocks a voice behind him, and Dustin curses beneath his breath. Why her?. “What are you doing here? Aren’t them at home? I thought you had a key-”
“Hello to you too, Erika,” Dustin sighs. “I’m just waiting so we all can arrive together, gosh.”
“Hah! Bullshit!” Erika laughs. “You never wait for anyone, you want your dads just for yourself, all the time!”
Dustin can’t say that’s not true.
“Well, I’m learning how to share, then-”
“Come oooon, Dustin, it’s cold here!” Erika doesn’t even wait and takes Dustin’s hand, guiding him to the building. “Get off your key, I’m freezing, and I’m hungry! Do you think Steve will be there today? He promised me some apple pie-”
Erika keeps talking, but Dustin has zoned out. The moment Erika took his hand, her soft, smallest hand wrapping her cold fingers around Dustin’s, he simply stopped hearing a word he said.
Which is, well, bad. Erika hates when someone ignores her, and she enjoys being mean to everyone at every opportunity.
“Hey, Dusty-bun! Wake up!” She’s now snapping her free hand in front of Dustin’s face. “Come on, the key! The key!”
Dustin obeys, and looks for the spare key Steve gave him, ignoring the fact that he’s still holding hands with Erika Sinclair. It’s nice. And Erika is not releasing his grip either.
Dustin tries not to think too hard about it while he manages to open the door of the building, and they both enter inside, and Erika shakes off the cold.
“Damn, I really hate winter,” she laughs.
She laughs, and Dustin is just- Fuck. He’s just standing there, looking at her, with her hand still in his. She doesn’t mind, it seems.
She leads him onto the lift, but she’s quiet now. No witty comments, just- Just them, waiting for the lift to arrive, in comfortable silence. Hand in hand.
Oh, fuck. Oh, shit. We’re holding hands!
Dustin has only held hands with Suzie, but not too much. And not for long. It’s nice, actually. He doesn’t know what to do, he only knows that he wants to keep Erika’s hand in his. Her hand is starting to get warm, and that must feel nice for her. Dustin wonders if she’s used to this, to just hold hands with friends, just because it’s nice.
That’s an odd thought, since Erika has never wanted to hold hands with Dustin, and he can say that they’ve been friends for long now. She usually doesn’t hug her friends, either. Not that Dustin wants to hug her, just. Just a random thought, for real. Just wondering if she’d like a hug some time.
Dustin’s mind wanders about this, and frowns at the image of Erika hugging any other friend. Maybe a guy. And the image changes and Erika is holding hands with a guy that is not Dustin, but a cute guy that’s in her class. A guy that is taller than Dustin, probably, a guy that is taller and better.
His belly starts to twist uncomfortably at the mental image. Erika laughs softly, and that sound brings back Dustin to reality, and realizes that Erika is looking at him with intention, and- fuck. Wait. Is his thumb drawing circles on Erika’s soft, small hand?
Erika knows something that he has not a clue about, and it shows. She’s looking at him, her thumb caresses Dustin’s knuckles, and she’s looking at him! Dustin’s hearts is dancing breakdance in his chest, and he’s sure Erika is able to hear the beating of his heart now.
“This is nice, isn't it?” She asks, voice low.
“Y-yeah,” Dustin says, and swallows loudly. What the fuck is happening? He feels as if the lift is suspended in space and not only in time. It’s simultaneously going too slow and too fast, and he feels dizzy with it all. All while Erika’s big, dark eyes are fixated on him.
“So-”
“So?”
“How is Suzie doing wherever she is?” Erika asks, now looking everywhere except at Dustin’s face. “She must be dying to see you again. Is she coming for Christmas?”
Dustin opens his mouth, and then closes it. He takes a breath, and then opens his mouth again.
“You’re looking like a fish again.” Erika retorts. “You do that a lot lately.”
“I do not look like a fish-” Dustin tries to process everything that’s happening. “And Suzie and I just- we just-”
Erika looks at him again, this time through her eyelashes, and she looks so gorgeous.
“I broke up with her,” Dustin says at the same time the lift stops.
They should open the door before the lift goes down again.
“We should-” Dustin points at the lift’s door with his free hand. He thinks he’s doing quite well with just one hand free, he definitely does not mind to keep holding Erika’s hand.
Erika is silent now, but opens the door for him and tugs Dustin’s hand. He follows.
“Should we use the key or…?”
“Ehm, no, better not,” Dustin says, and rings the bell instead.
“No!” Erika smiles. “You stepped in on them doing it?!”
“What? Ew! No! Shit, Erika, no!”
Erika laughs openly and shamelessly at Dustin’s face of disgust. It’s nice to hear her laugh, Dustin thinks, and he realizes that it’s not the first time he has thought so.
But it’s the first time he can think about it without feeling guilty. Oh, no. He knows this has been happening for a long time now. He doesn’t know when it started, but he knows it’s been worse since they reunited again.
“Yeah, yeah, ha ha, very funny,” Dustin tries to sound offended, but instead he’s smiling at her.
“They look like the kind of parents that would want to talk about what you saw, though,” Erika adds, and Dustin’s expression of horror at the realization makes her laugh harder.
“Guys!” Steve opens the door and finds them laughing far too loud. “You two are here early, Eddie is still in the shower.”
Dustin follows Steve’s eyes and how they open wide at their locked hands. Steve looks at Dustin and arches a brow, but doesn’t say a thing about it. Dustin feels once again petrified, not knowing what to do or- Fuck, he’s the clever one, he should know what to do. Should he let Erika’s hand go? Should he say something about it? Erika is not releasing his hand either, but Erika never cares about what others might think. Dustin envies her for that.
Steve opens the door wide and lets them in, a rug in his shoulder. Dustin feels his cheeks turning even redder than before, and the weight of Steve’s gaze is heavy.
“Are you cooking for us?” Erika asks, maybe noticing the same rug or maybe because the whole floor smells deliciously. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, why, good evening to you as well, Sinclair,” Steve says, and Dustin needs this to become a normal conversation, as they usually do.
“She has decided today to not greet us, Steve,” says. “She was in a hurry to get here for some reason.”
“Yes, because it’s cold as hell out there,” Erika says, ignoring everything it seems, and tugs Dustin’s hand once again. “Come on, come on! Steve, it smells so good, what are you doing for dinner?”
Erika releases Dustin’s hand at last, sadly, so she can get her long down coat off, and Dustin does the same, immediately missing her hand.
Has this ever happened to him? He can’t remember it now. He remembers missing Suzie, sure, but not while being in the same room.
Erika lets her hair down, her breads framing her face-
Steve knocks him with his elbow, and Dustin is about to protest when Steve makes a gesture to shut his mouth.
“You’re staring with your mouth open, dude,” Steve whispers to him. “Too obvious. Fight it back a bit, Henderson.”
Dustin wants to reply, but truth is, his mind is still blank.
“It’s going to be a long night,” Steve sighs. “Okay, you two, help me in the kitchen. Do not go sniff on Eddie’s notes, do you know he hates snoopers!”
-
“What? No! I can’t believe it!” Eddie almost screams when Steve tells him about Dustin and Erika. Eddie’s face is bright with the new gossip, and Steve wants to kiss him stupid.
“They were holding hands! Just like that! Erika was bossing him around-”
“As she does,” Eddie adds, and Steve nods at him.
“Yes! Oh, fuck, I remember it now, it’s their dynamic since forever! Damn, we’ve been so blind all this time!”
Eddie laughs, getting naked and tossing his clothes wherever.
“I mean, I remember that they both were always bickering and being the most annoying kids together,” Eddie scratches the scars in his torso, thoughtful. “But man, they were so little. And he was staring at her, you say?”
“Completely spellbound, I swear,” Steve says.
“It makes sense now that he was so bitter whenever someone asked about Suzie,” adds Eddie. “Erika was always there, right? For how long has been this happening? Man, we’re losing our detective skills.”
Steve has to laugh at that last bit.
“Yeah, it makes sense… I’d like to say that she was also acting weird, but she’s always so…”
“Rude, mean, cruel, witty with the sharpest tongue?”
“Yeah, they both really suit each other,” Steve smiles at the thought. “I remember telling Robin about this once, long ago, you know? But then I simply forgot, everything was just so smooth after Vecna…”
They both get into bed to keep gossiping about the kids they managed to keep safe years ago.
“They’re going to be insufferable if they get together,” Steve says before falling asleep, hearing Eddie’s muffled giggles.
“Those little shits,” Eddie agrees.