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Steve was curious.
It had been months since he encountered that… creature, with Jonathan and Nancy, and now those same two people sat with him on the couch of his empty home. His parents were off to god knows where, so he turned the television on as loud as he wanted, threw endless snacks on the table, and leaned back to enjoy his weekend.
It wasn’t a completely new occasion for him to have Jonathan and Nancy over, because once Will was found and they weren’t worried about alternate dimensions, they found that the trauma of it was quite bonding. It was a lot easier to talk and joke with people you nearly died with. They had all become quite close friends, and it was often that they frequented Steve’s house to do whatever they wanted.
Now, they all were focused on the mind-numbing drama on the television that had them enraptured for the last hour. Although, not all of them were completely focused. Steve kept glancing over to Jonathan, who was politely seated with his legs crossed and a sparkle in his eye. A thought crossed Steve’s mind.
Why did Jonathan snap those pictures of him and Nancy?
Now that they knew each other better, the idea that Jonathan would do something so inappropriate was shockingly out of character. He was going through a hard time, but even with that as an excuse, Steve still couldn’t wrap his head around it. He had been thinking about it all week, it lingered in the back of his mind like a constant question.
Nancy, who was sitting between Jonathan and Steve, sighed, and turned her head to Steve. “Do you have coke?”
“Like the drink? Or…”
“Steve!” Nancy threw a pillow at him.
Steve groaned, throwing the pillow off of him. It landed somewhere random on the floor, and none of them made a move to pick it up. Steve sat up in his spot, pushing himself off the couch. His legs ached a little from how long he had been sitting down. “I should have it. I just have to find where it is.”
He was already heading out the room before his feet stopped, an idea blooming in his head. He turned around.
“Jonathan, could you come with me? Just to help me find where I stashed it last time.”
Jonathan, who Steve hoped was unaware of the eyes that had been burning into the side of his face rather than the television for the past hour, let out a shaky breath before shrugging and pushing himself up off the couch. Nancy seemed unbothered, but she did give Jonathan a small wink, as if there was a secret between them. Steve would sort that out later, but he had other things on his mind. Jonathan bit the inside of his cheek as he walked past Nancy to approach the taller boy, and Steve smiled at him for easily succumbing.
Steve turned on his heel and walked out of the room, making his way to the kitchen. Jonathan followed behind him silently, anxiety coursing through the shorter boy’s veins. Eventually, they turned the corner into the kitchen
Jonathan immediately pushed himself into the farthest corner of the kitchen, as if he could sense that Steve was planning something. Steve, who wasn’t actually filing through any of the cabinets or drawers, and rather just staring at Jonathan, not so subtly snuck across the room until he was standing beside him.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Jonathan shrugged.
“I just wanted to know. Why were you photographing her? Nancy, I mean.” Steve asked, leaning casually on the counter. Jonathan craned his neck to open the cabinet above him, trying his best to ignore the words coming out of Steve’s mouth. “Did you see one of those…er… monster thingies?”
“Steve.”
“I mean, I’m not mad at you anymore. Nancy and I aren’t together anymore, but I just want to understand, since we’re friends.” Steve explained, and Jonathan gave him a look of pure anxiety with a hint of irritation. “Kind of friends. You get the deal.”
Jonathan shut the cabinet above him a bit more harshly than intended, causing both of the boys to flinch. He gave Steve another look, which was somehow more irritated than the last one.
“My point is, I trust you now. I mean, I’m just curious. Know that I know you better now and that doesn’t seem like something you’d do. Was it a spur of the moment decision? I know things were hard for you when—”
“I… I wasn’t taking pictures of her.” Jonathan interrupted quietly, turning his head away as he searched through another cabinet.
“You don’t have to lie, Jonathan, I won’t be upset.” Steve pried, desperately trying to get the full truth out of Jonathan.
Jonathan shifted away slightly, letting the cabinet he was searching through close, and pushing himself further into the corner of the room. “I’m not lying. I wasn’t taking pictures of her.”
“Then what was it? Was there something in the room?”
“No…”
“Then… then what…who?”
Steve’s eyebrows were furrowed, his voice trailing off as he stared at Jonathan’s fearful face. Jonathan’s silence and oddly red face contributed as somewhat of an answer itself. As the pieces slowly fit together, Steve’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to say something, but Jonathan’s eyes were already filling with tears as he began to turn away.
Desperately, Steve grabbed Jonathan’s hand; he wanted context. And explanation as to what that would mean for them, and in a way, Steve got one.
The moment Steve gripped Jonathan’s hand, bringing him back, Jonathan turned and yanked the taller boy by the collar of his shirt into an aggressive kiss. Their noses bumped together uncomfortably, as if neither of them were prepared for it. Steve was frozen in place from shock, trying to process what was happening, but Jonathan pulled back before he could even try to understand. Regret painted the features of Jonathan’s face, his eyes wide with pure fear, fear that Steve hadn’t seen on his face since having to fend off that monster at his house. Unshed tears shined brightly in his tear ducts, and Steve felt a weird feeling come over him.
“I—”
Steve pulled him back to his lips with the same hand, albeit less aggressively, resting his hands on the other boy’s hips. This time, both their heads tilted into comfortable positions, and they were much closer than before.
In all honesty, Steve had no idea what the hell was going on, or what the hell he was doing. He’d never considered kissing boys, let alone kissing Jonathan Byers, but the moment the other boy pressed his lips against him a few seconds ago, he was reconsidering everything he thought he knew about himself. Jonathan was moving his lips against his like he was trying to eat Steve alive, like he had been starving, and Steve liked that feeling of being wanted. Being into boys should’ve scared him, but in all honesty, he couldn’t help but think that it made a good bit of sense.
Jonathan gripped Steve’s neck, tangling his fingers in between the lengths of hair that reached that point. He yanked a bit, causing the two of them to separate for a moment. Steve let out a choked groan before falling back in. The display of strength reminded him of getting his shit rocked by Jonathan less than a year prior. He deserved it, but afterwards, he still couldn’t help but be shocked at Jonathan’s great deal of strength. He had definitely not seen it in his arms, but when those fingers curled into a fist and punched him in the face, and when those same fingers gripped the back of his head in pure craving, he was reminded of how much weaker he was compared to the other boy.
Jonathan’s lips were chapped compared to Steve’s plusher ones, since Steve constantly upheld every aspect of his appearance to a certain standard. Still, the slight roughness of it definitely added onto the experience. Jonathan’s cheeks were still wet in tears from the uncertainty before, but it was far from a sad kiss. Both of them had seemed to have stopped thinking; stopped thinking about where they were, stopped thinking about who they were supposed to be, about who would hate them for this. All they could think about was each other and how they tasted and felt and—
“Steve? Jonathan?”
The sound of Nancy’s voice broke the two boys out of their trance, and they broke apart like they were lit on fire. Jonathan stumbled back, heaving, his hands falling to grip the counter behind him. Steve took a few steps back in the opposite direction, putting his fingers to his now wet lips.
“Fuck…” He cursed, swallowing thickly. His throat felt dry with the distance between him and Jonathan. He turned around to respond to Nancy’s call, trying to sound as normal as possible. “Yeah?”
“What’s taking you guys so long? I’m thirsty!” She complained.
“We couldn’t find the… um…just give us a minute!” Steve responded in a panicked voice. He could feel her rolling her eyes from a distance, and he cringed at his suspicious statement before flipping around to stare at Jonathan again.
Jonathan’s eyes were glued to his shoes, and from what Steve could see, his face was still red. His hands were now shoved deep in his jacket pockets and his eyes were shining with tears that had been flowing silently down his face, and Steve felt all the happiness in his body fade away.
“So...” Jonathan whispered, his voice broken from lack of use.
Steve couldn’t help but feel a twist in his gut at the way he sounded, how Steve made him sound like that, but he chose not to acknowledge that feeling.
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Steve apologized genuinely, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He shouldn’t have pulled Jonathan back in, he should have asked first, and now the other boy was crying.
Jonathan looked up, his eyebrows furrowing deeply and his face scrunching up into a confused expression that Steve found oddly cute (though he’d never say that aloud). He was confused as to why Steve was apologizing to him. “I kissed you.”
“I kissed back.” Steve argued, and Jonathan couldn’t help but laugh.
“So who’s to blame?” He joked quietly, a small grin sliding onto his face. Steve was glad that Jonathan was smiling, but he still shook his head at the statement.
“I don’t… I don’t think I want to blame anyone, Jon.”
Jonathan’s grin fell from his face as he swallowed, scared to think about what those words might implicate. He decided to focus on something else to keep himself from combusting into millions of pieces right there, but the use of a nickname was not helping, and he frankly could not tear his gaze from Steve’s face.
“Jonathan?” Steve asked worriedly when he noticed Jonathan staring at him without responding to his statement. A few moments of uncomfortable silence came after that before Steve addressed the boy again. “Uhm… you never answered my question.”
Jonathan finally tore his eyes from the other boy's face, wincing at the reminder, but he decided to be honest since there wasn’t much to deny after what had just occurred.
“I… I don’t know.” He shrugged.
Steve gave him a sympathetic look, letting Jonathan know that he wasn’t upset. Jonathan’s throat felt less tight than before, and he took a gulp of air before responding.
“When I was trying to find Will, I ended up at your house by accident since you’re so close by, and I… I saw you take your shirt off, and…” Jonathan couldn’t finish his sentence, and he looked up at Steve anxiously to see his facial expression. Steve was deep in thought, trying to sort everything out in his head.
“So it was never her?” He asked after a few seconds, and Jonathan shrugged.
“It’s not like I never thought about her… it’s just—” Jonathan shook his head, pausing for a moment to close his eyes. “My eyes were more drawn to you.”
“Woah.”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
Jonathan sighed, pushing his fists even deeper into his pockets and hunching over, as if he was trying to make himself smaller.
“You’re probably not even gay, I just—”
“I think I might be.” Steve interrupted, causing Jonathan’s head to snap up.
“Huh?” Jonathan gasped, his jaw slack.
“I mean, I never really thought about it, but kissing you was…” Steve trailed off, struggling to find the right words to describe the burning, tingling sensation that settled in his body, although no word could quite fit. He shook his head. “I’d do it again.”
“Seriously?” Jonathan asked incredulously.
“Fuck yeah, Jonathan,” Steve exclaimed, stepping forward. “You’re a— a very good kisser.”
“So what are we? Are we… still friends?”
“I think we’re past that point. But, I’d like to take you out, before anything.” Steve took a step back, falling onto one knee and sticking his hand out with an exaggerated gesture. Jonathan let out an embarrassing giggle, and Steve laughed along with him, before speaking in an over-dramatic voice through his laughter. “Can I take you out on a date, Jonathan Byers?”
“Yes you can, Steve Harrington.”