Archive of Our Own

This was bound to happen eventually. 

Max had pinned it from the start, there was no way in hell all of this wasn’t going to backfire on everyone. They’re so, so stupid. 

Maybe she should have warned Steve, but she didn’t know how. He’s sensitive, easily upset, she didn’t want to be the thing that pushes him over the edge, you know? But this is considerably worse than that, she thinks, looking down at Steve who hasn’t moved a muscle in a good half hour. 

He’s just sat on her couch, head in his hands, silent, eerily so. She’s tried  talking to him a handful of times, but there’s no reply. He doesn’t react at all. 

She doesn’t even really know what happened, having gotten home once the argument had ended but she can put two and two together. Clearly Eddie knows about Jonathan, and so does Nancy. Jonathan knowing about Robin and Nancy is also very likely, considering Robin was sobbing in her car earlier. Thinking of her, Max peers out her trailer window; her car is gone. 

She sighs as she steps away from the window and collapses onto the couch beside Steve, leaning on the arm rest as she turns to face him, anxiously biting her nails. She wonders what’ll happen after this. Will Nancy forgive Steve? And why is Eddie so hurt in the first place? 

Max doesn’t like Eddie. He reminds her of Billy. The same mane of hair, the same loud, obnoxious music, the same scent of tobacco when he enters the room. For a long time she blamed herself for her dislike, believing it was unjust, that she was projecting Billy onto him. After today, maybe not so much. 

Suddenly Steve stirs, abruptly sitting up. The view isn’t pretty, Steve’s face is bright red from strain, eyes littered with burst capillaries from crying, fingernail marks dug into his forehead. He’s been hurting himself again. What takes Max back the most, though, is Steve’s expression. He looks mortified. 

She doesn’t respond straight away. Instead she watches as Steve jumps to his feet, eyes darting around the room. She’s astounded by Steve’s sudden movement, confused as to what he’s doing. 

“Steve? What's wrong?”

It looks like he’s about to sprint, but then all of the sudden, he stops. His eyes roll into the back of his head, his face falls and, to Max’s surprise, he’s floating. She can’t believe what she’s seeing, ripping her glasses off of her face as if they were somehow disturbing her view before yelling, “Steve!?”

She sprints off of the couch and grabs for him, wrapping her arms around his ankle, trying her hardest to pull him back down to the ground but it’s no use. 

“Fuck.”

Panicked, she does the first thing that comes to mind and sprints out of her trailer, running over to Steve’s. As she pries the door open she can’t believe her eyes; Eddie’s in the same state, hovering three feet in the air, eyes rolled into the back of his head. 

Dustin’s crying, screaming Eddie’s name, grabbing for his hand, pleading for him to come down. “Holy fuck.” Is all Max says, getting Dustin’s attention who yells through sobs, “He started freaking out and then..” 

“Same with Steve.” Max’s eyes dart around the room, desperately searching for what to do. As her eyes land on Steve’s pocket knife, haphazardly sitting on the table beside the door, an idea strikes. She picks it up and bolts out of there, sprinting back to her trailer and bounding inside. 

Steve’s in the same state he was, although his eyes are closed now and his fingers keep twitching. It’s clear whatever’s happening to him is only getting worse, she has to act now. She knows for a fact that when Steve gets worked up, the only thing that brings him back is pain, so he hurts himself. Using that logic, there’s only one thing to do.

“Please fucking work.” Is all she says before she grabs Steve’s hand  and drags the knife across the back of it, cutting him. As soon as the blade breaks Steve’s skin he drops, falling like a bag of dirt, collapsing onto the ground. Max drops to her knees and check’s Steve’s pulse- he’s alive. 

She jumps up again and sprints back to Steve’s trailer, finding Eddie in the same state he was in before. Dustin looks over at her, eyes widening as he notices her wielding a knife,  “What are you going to do with that?” His voice cracks, squeaking in terror.

“Saving his fucking life.” 

Max grabs Eddie’s hand and slices one clear line from his pointer knuckle down diagonally to his wrist. Eddie drops the same way Steve had, collapsing onto Dustin who falls back on his ass. He doesn't care, arms wrapped around Eddie, rocking back and fourth as he pleads for the other to wake up. 

She sprints back to her trailer to check on Steve, kneeling down beside him as the other blinks awake. The first thing that strikes Steve is the  pain in his head, his left hand raising to apply pressure to it as he looks at his right, only then noticing it’s bleeding. 

Seeing that Steve is okay Max grabs her first aid kit from the kitchen, walking back as Steve asks, “What the fuck happened?”

“Long story.” She replies as she drops to her knees and begins to haphazardly wrap Steve’s wound up in bandages, “Let’s get you back to your trailer first.” 

Which is exactly what they do. Upon entering they find Eddie on the floor, applying pressure to his open wound while Dustin searches  Steve’s trailer for what the pair assume to be bandages. 

“I’ve got some.”  Max says, proceeding to sit beside Eddie and wrap up his hand as well. Neither Steve or Eddie look at one another as they enter the trailer, Steve sitting down on a stool, holding his cut hand as he looks over at Dustin, about to ask a question. But his phone rings. 

“Answer it.” Steve says, and Dustin does as he’s told, walking over to the phone and picking it up, “Yes?”

Screaming can be heard from the other end. It’s Mike. Dustin flinches at the sound and replies, “Woah, woah, man. Calm down. What’s up?”

Frustrated with Dustin’s reaction Max stands up and snatches the phone from him. Mike, in a series of panicked broken sentences, proceeds to explain that Nancy is suffering the exact same fate as the two boys were, Max’s eyes widening as she hears the news, “Her too…” Fuck. “Listen to me, Mike. You need to hurt her. Just enough to snap her out of it. Grab a- a sharp object or something and cut her a bit.” 

Mike proceeds to scream a bit more, Max cuts him off, “Just fucking do it. Steve and Eddie were the same way and that's the only thing we could do to help them.” He proceeds to put down the phone, still on the line. There’s a minute long wait until he says, “She’s back.” 

“We have to find Robin.” Steve says, the realization hitting the group at the same time. No one questions him, everyone jumping to their feet and bolting out of the trailer, Steve unlocking his truck and everyone piling inside. 

Sirens on, Steve speeds off, Dustin anxiously in his passenger seat while Max and Eddie are tossed around in the back. Steve’s driving like a maniac, but it’s his god given, cop right, dodging through traffic, riding up the wrong side of the road. He’ll do anything to save his best friend. 

The ride is silent. Anxiety and panicked stealing the words from their lips— the same thing on all of their minds. What does this mean?

They all bound out of the truck as they pull up to Robin’s place, her car parked in the driveway. Steve’s the first out, sprinting to her door, attempting to open it. No use. It’s locked. Steve tries his best to barge in, using his body to force open the door but it doesn’t budge. 

“Move.”

Steve obeys Eddie’s request and steps out of the way. Eddie backs up, sprints, and kicks the door in, busting through the lock. The group charge inside and thankfully didn’t have to look long as Robin is in her living room, a similar but worse state to how the boys had been. 

Her mouth is agape and her eyes are rolling in her head, her fingers twitching in inhumane ways, neck occasionally twitching as well. Max doesn’t hesitate, leaving Robin with the same cut she left Eddie and Steve, right across the back of her hand. As she drops Steve makes sure to catch her and places her down on her couch, murmuring to himself, “Thank god you’re okay.” 

The group share a moment of horrified silence, all eyes on Robin as Steve gently brushes  his fingers over her brow, calmly waking her up. This was no coincidence, and the group can only assume the worst. Eddie, shakily collapses down on the armchair opposite them, Max standing there thinking as Dustin begins to pace. 

“I’m going to call Mike and tell him we found Robin the same way, then he should grab Will and Nance and we should all meet back here.” Max says before turning and hurriedly storming off to the kitchen.

Steve looks up at Dustin, hand still on Robin’s brow as she begins to stir, “Was i like that? Floating?” Dustin, who is currently freaking out, urgently responds, “I don’t know. I was with Eddie, but he was. So yeah, probably. It’s like…”

“Like the Vecna thing.” Eddie cuts Dustin off, turning to look at the other, speaking for the first time since the argument, “Which is fucked up. I thought he was dead. I thought you killed him.” He turns to look at Steve, venom in his tone, Steve’s brow furrows, “We did. Nancy did. We set him on fire and shot him, like, twenty times. He’s dead.” 

Robin finally blinks awake, one hand on her forehead as she looks around the room, confused, “What the hell are you guys doing here?” She says, voice croaky, eyes falling to the back of her hand she adds, “What the hell happened to my hand?”

Steve and Dustin proceed to explain everything to Robin in frantic bursts, cutting one another off every other sentence, completely overwhelming her as they do. All the colour from her flushed face drains, realization setting in, turning her stomach. 

Max enters the room again, glad to see Robin has woken up as she says, “They’re on their way. Nancy is okay. Apparently Argyle, Diego and Will are still at the trailer park somewhere so they’ll pick them up first before coming here. Glad to see you’re awake, Robin.” 

“Get out of my face.” Robin says to Steve, pushing him away by the face, jokingly. He doesn’t mind; he’s grateful she’s okay, thats all that matters right now. He jokes, “If you didn’t wake up soon i was gonna give you a kiss. Like sleeping beauty.”

“Yuck, dude.”

“You guys!”

Dustin stops pacing  only to turn around and yell at the group, “This is so serious right now. How can you be joking? Vecna is back. We’re all going to die!” His voice cracks again as he throws himself onto one of the couches, head in his hands. Steve jumps up and walks towards him, before couching down by his side, “We’re not gonna die, dude. We didn’t last time.” 

“We had Eleven last time.” 

Steve’s quiet now. No one knows how to contact her, or where she is anymore. She finished high school in California and hasn’t been seen since. Steve knows she works for the government, something related to the Upside Down, but other than that he has no idea. Maybe Hopper and Joyce have a number for her? But he has no clue. 

The note about no one dying doesn’t really sit well with him either, because it’s half-baked at best.

Steve vividly remembers going back to save Eddie. 

Dustin had told him what happened, how Eddie ran into the storm of bats and fought for his life, how he died in his arms. He knew it wasn’t right. Without second thought Steve denied the narrative and demanded he and Dustin go back for him, rescue him from the upside down before the gateways close. 

Maybe if he thought about it he wouldn’t have. After hearing Dustin’s graphic, traumatizing recount of the way he found Eddie torn apart, any sane person would assume the guy was dead but Steve? He refused to believe so. He didn’t even care for Eddie back then, kind of found him to be annoying and was jealous of how much time Dustin would spend with him. But he went anyway. 

With Dustin’s help Steve climbed through the gateway in the trailer, demanding the other stay behind just in case. Without second thought he ran towards where Dustin told Eddie he found him, and low and beyond he was there.

Eddie had dragged himself a few feet away from where he fell and was leant against a trailer, a trail of blood and disturbed dirt marking his journey. At first he thought the other was dead, his skin pale, lips blue and body limp but as Steve pressed a hand to the other’s neck to check his pulse, his eyes blinked awake. 

“Thank god you’re alive. I told him, i fucking told him.” Steve was way more emotional than he’d ever expected, crying as began to apply pressure to the wound on Eddie’s stomach. It was bad, just as bad as Dustin had told him, but survivable. 

Even in his extremely weakened state Eddie managed to crack a joke, “Couldn’t live without me, Harrington?” Which, despite everything, made Steve laugh. He took the bandana from Eddie’s head and used it to cut off blood flow from his right leg, shaking his head, “You amaze me.” 

On recollection Steve believes this may be the first first moment he fell in love with Eddie Munson. For a long time he assumed it was during that Black Sabbath concert a year later, but that’s just not true. Seeing Eddie lay there, on the brink of death, dried blood smeared across his face, covered in deep, open wounds, cracking jokes with a smile on his face sparked something within Steve. 

In that moment he felt a lot of things, sad to see the other in such an awful state, grateful to find im alive, admiring him for sacrificing himself for a town full of people who hate him. He’s never felt so strongly about anyone before, he doubts he ever will again. 

“Come on, Hero. I’m going to carry you.” Eddie began to argue but it was too late. Steve scooped Eddie up bridal style and began carrying him towards his trailer, walking slowly as to not hurt the other. Adrenaline must have set in or something, because looking back at it Steve has no idea how he managed to carry Eddie  all that way, given he was also injured himself. Maybe it was an act of passion, Eddie’s heroics inspiring him to be a hero as well. 

Nancy, Robin and Dustin were waiting for them on the other side of the gateway as they entered the trailer. The emotions were palpable, Robin and Nancy hugging as Dustin jumped about, screaming. They’d made a makeshift hammock for Eddie to sit in, pulling him out of the upside down, Steve piling up a punch of furniture before climbing through himself. 

Everything is a blur after that. The pair were rushed to the local hospital, Steve remembers Eddie’s head laying in his lap as they were sprawled in the back seat of his car. He remembers the conversation vividly, too. 

“I should give you back that vest, since you survived and all.”

“Nah. Keep it.”

“What?”

“You’re my hero, Steve. I want you to keep it.”

It was a very petty, back and forth argument that only ended as Eddie was rushed into the emergency room. That’s how the jacket came into Steve’s possession, and it hasn’t left since. Just like how Eddie hasn’t left his mind  either. 

Mike, Will, Nancy, Argyle and Diego all pile inside the house, a mortified expression shared between everyone besides Argyle, who looks nervous at best. They all sit around, Steve, Robin, Nance sharing one couch, Diego, Dustin and Max sharing the other while Argyle and Will take a seat on the floor. 

“So, like, what the fuck was that?”

Good question, Mike. The group look between one another. It’s painfully obvious everyone has something to say, but they’re all hesitating. Steve decides he’ll take one for the team and speak first, “I’ve been… having these panic attacks. For a while.”

There’s a pause, no one else butts in so he continues, “Ever since the incident. At first they were, like, normal fits of anxiety. I felt panicky. Like how you feel before public speaking or something. But it only got worse. Eventually i couldn’t shake them without… hurting myself.” He sort of mumbles the last part of the sentence, embarrassed to admit the fact, “Then i started hallucinating. Seeing shit. Max in the hospital, Chrissy, Barb, Eddie. A lot of Eddie.” 

Steve forces himself to not look at the other as he says that, but Eddie’s expression falters, bottom lip quivering only for him to bite it. “Then, two nights ago i saw him. Vecna. He wasn’t the same as before, it looked like he’d… melted, i guess. I could smell him, too. Like rotten meat.” He turns to Max as he says this, “I saw Billy too. I’d ran from Vecna and hid in my bathroom, but all of the sudden my bathroom  became the lockeroom at Hawkin’s High and Billy was there. He reached for me and i pulled away from him and he just, like…”

“Fell apart.” 

Nancy replies, cutting Steve off, taking the words from his lips, “I’ve seen it too. It wasn’t Billy, though. It was Carol Perkins.” She bites her bottom lip and adjusts her skirt before she continues, “I’ve been dealing with the same thing, I think. Ever since leaving college. At first i was just so- so anxious, you know? Scared for the first time in my life, it infuriated me.” 

There’s bitterness in her tone, the kind of anger that triggers Steve’s anxiety. The tone she takes when you’ve done something really, really wrong. She continues, “I started drinking. To cope. But that stopped working after a year and things gradually got worse. I started seeing things; My friends and family, dead. I eventually worked out ripping out a few pieces of hair fixed things and I've been doing that. The pain snapped me out of it.  But last night… I was thinking, you know, about everything. That’s when I saw him .” 

Robin places a comforting hand on Nancy’s thigh as she speaks up as well, awkwardly chuckling as she mumbles, “Same here. Haha.” No one is interested in hearing her light hearted take on things right now so she drops the act; “Ever since i got back to Hawkins i’ve been dealing with crazy anxiety. Started seeing things six months ago, about a week ago i saw him. And Tammy Thompson. I was staying late at work, stressed, thinking about things .”

Upon hearing that, Steve automatically looks over at Eddie who’s so far said nothing. Steve knows for a fact Eddie has been suffering with the same attacks, and fully expects the other to finally fess up. Eddie notices this, meeting his eyes only to look away from him, “Not me, Harrington.”

“That’s a fucking lie.” Well, then. All eyes are on the pair now,  Steve scowling at Eddie who looks stunned. “I’ve been talking to Gareth, Eddie. I know everything. About the panic attacks and shit. If we all have to talk about this, you do too.”

Silence, eyes wander from Steve to Eddie, awaiting his response. Albeit mad, Eddie mostly looks defeated, sighing  out of frustration as he admits, “Fine. Fuck. Yeah, okay. Let’s all trauma dump, then, shall we? I’ve been having panic attacks since i left Hawkins. For the past five years. Seeing shit too, but why wouldn’t i? Any normal person would have PTSD after what we’ve been through. I don’t see what this has to do with—”

“You’re an idiot, Eddie.” Dustin of all people cuts him off, brushing him off with a frustrated hand gesture as he says, “It’s fucking obvious to anyone with a single braincell,” He like, violently taps the side of his head as he gestures towards the group, “These things are linked. It’s not PTSD or panic attacks, if that were the case Will would definitely be suffering from them. Are you, Will?”

Will just shrugs, Diego rubbing his shoulders as he replies, “No. I’ve been fine. I haven’t sensed Vecna’s presence at all, either.”  Dustin nods at this, as if he were expecting the response before saying, “So now all we have to do is figure out what you four have in common. Why would Vecna be after you specifically?” 

Brainstorming time. Nothing comes to mind straight away. Eddie, Robin, Nancy and he haven’t done much together at all; Nothing stands out. Steve replays events in his head, trying to think of anything that may link the group together. 

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Eddie says, scanning the group as if he were expecting a reply. No  one does. “Seriously?”

“Spit it out, Munson.”

“Okay, okay.” He anxiously rubs the back of his neck, “The bat bites. Right? We were the only ones attacked by them when we went through the Lover’s Lake gateway. Steve and I were really fucked up, but you two got bit as well.” He gestures towards Robin and Nancy. 

It clicks. It just makes sense; its the only thing the three have in common, the only thing no one else has suffered with. All three of them were bit when they went through the gateway under Lover’s Lake and then Eddie again when he was attacked by his trailer in the upside down. 

Steve has a question, though “Why now? Why not straight after we were bitten?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Max asks the whole group to no avail. She continues, “Vecna prays on weakness. Everyone he targeted last time had gone through something traumatic and had been struggling because of it. You guys are the same. Like, take Steve for example,”

He really wishes she wouldn’t but anyway, “His started with the Gershwin family incident. Something traumatic happens and all of the sudden he’s having these panic attacks, then Nancy,” Max points at her, “Hers started after college. Robin left for Hawkins, she started working for the first time, dating Jonathan again. Her lowest.”

“Okay, okay, okay. So you’re saying Vecna had been…?” Eddie asks, Max nodding as she answers, “He’s been with you the whole time.”

Eddie covers his mouth and throws himself back onto the couch while Nancy and Robin grab one another's hands and huddle in for a hug. This is the last thing anyone wanted to hear. To think hours ago they were living in bliss, assuming Vecna was dead only to now be told he was never done to begin with. 

“Yo…” Argyle speaks up, looking over at Max, “You said he’s living in them. What if, you know, it’s like Rabies. They have a disease. Dudes with rabies go all kinds of crazy.” A surprisingly good point from Argyle. She pauses to think about it, “Maybe.”

Suddenly Will’s eyes light up, an idea striking him, “It’s like what i had after spending all of that time in the upside down. He was inside of me. I became part of the hive mind.” Will rubs the back of his neck at the memory, “Then we burnt him out. Like a fever- your body warms up to kill the virus. “

Steve and Nancy nod at the memory— Last time they had to blindfold Will to make sure Vecna didn’t know where they were. This time, they should be safe. Eddie and Robin on the other hand look confused, neither having known about any of this when it happened all those years ago. 

“Okay. Easy. We’ll just lock you four in the sauna at the community pool, like what we did with Billy. Problem solved.” Dustin says, clapping his hands to his knees. Mike shakes his head at this, “No can do. Will got all… violent when we were burning it out of him. We can’t risk you guys turning on one another. We’ll have to do it separately.”

Steve replies, “At the same time still, though. Say we do Robin first, Nancy, Eddie and I could turn on you and try to save him. We’ll have to do it seperate, at the same time.” 

“Four different locations.” Will says, agreeing. 

“Okay, okay…” Robin says, “My place for the first location. The sauna is a second. We just need two more. They have to be secure with the ability to get really, really hot.” 

Dustin clicks his fingers, “My Mom’s basement. The old Hellfire club. That place gets hot as hell.”

“We just need one more place.” Max says, eyes scanning the group, looking for suggestions. 

“The basement at Hawkin’s High.”Steve remembers it well. Hot as fuck, there’s an incinerater down there and everything. It’s the perfect place. He continues, “I’ll go to Hawkins, Robin stay here, Nancy in the sauna and Eddie at Dustin’s. We’ll have to split up into groups.”

Dustin nods and adds, “We’ll need to communicate via walkie talkies too. We’ll have to do everything at the same time.”

“We also need supplies. Ropes and heaters.” Mike says. 

“I- I don’t get it.” Eddie speaks for the first time in a while, “What exactly is happening. Explain it to me slowly .” He has a good idea of whats happening, but kind of can’t believe it. Argyle adds, “Yeah, man. Me too. I’m, like, lost.” 

Steve replies, speaking as slowly and calmly as possible, “We. Meaning you, me, Nance and Rob have been infected with a disease. Like rabies.” He gestures towards Argyle who gives a thumbs up, “Will had something similar a year after he escaped the Upside Down.” He gestures to Will who nods, “Mrs Byers figured out the disease dislikes heat. It can’t handle it. So, she heated Will up and killed the disease. We’re going to do the same.” 

Eddie nods along to this, clearly irritated, before jumping up and kicking the ottoman in front of him. “Hey!” Robin shouts, jumping forward to save the ottoman from Eddie’s rampage as Max yells, “Calm down, moron. He prays on this shit. The more worked up you get, the more likely it is you’ll end up floating again.” 

“This is so fucked up. What the fuck.” He’s ignoring her, pacing, hands in his hair. This doesn’t shock Steve at all, after everything Eddie went through last time, having no prior experience, if he were in Eddie’s position he’d feel the same way. He doesn’t say anything to comfort the other, though, as he hasn’t forgotten what  just happened. If anything he wants to walk over there and kick him in the shin. 

“It’s fine, Eddie. We do this and you’ll be okay. I can’t even sense Vecna anymore; he’s gone for me.”

“Me too.” Max adds, sounding far less sympathetic than Will who’s clearly concerned for Eddies wellbeing. 

Eddie throws himself onto the couch again, arms folded over his chest, foot tapping against the ground, “Okay? So? Lets do the thing, then.” 

“Tomorrow.” Robin says, catching everyone off guard. They were all under the assumption they’d head off straight away, get it over and done with.  “Right now we need to go buy supplies and calm down. There’s no use doing this while everyone’s so worked up.” 

She’s right. Everyone knows it, although its frustrating to hear.

“Right. Robin and I will go to the army surplus store and get geared up, you two,” She points at both Eddie and Steve, “Go home and calm down. Not alone, though. Dustin, can you stay with Eddie? Max with Steve?”

Eddie rolls his eyes at this but Steve doesn’t argue, only stating, “I actually have work.” 

“Too bad.” Nancy stands up, walks into the kitchen and returns a moment later, wireless home phone in hand, “Call in. Tell them you’re sick.”

“That’s not how it works—”

“Didn’t ask.”

He snatches the phone from Nancy’s hand and begrudgingly begins dialing in a number. He’s being deliberately slow, he doesn’t want to not go to work.  Especially not now.

“Where is your mustache?” 

Mike is the first one to ask which causes the room to erupt into conversation, Dustin adding, “I knew something was off! Oh my god, Steve, you finally shaved it.” “Finally.” Max adds, agreeing with  Dustin. There’s a few more comments about how he looks good, how young he looks, even Argyle adding, “You’re looking mad kissable right now, Homie. Wish i got to see the stache, though. You dont look like a grower.” 

Steve says nothing, calling the number on the phone as the conversation continues around him, the only one paying attention to him actually being Eddie who’s staring from across the room, unbeknownst to him. 

“Phil? Hey man… Hey. Yeah. I was just wondering if you could take my shift this afternoon.” The voice on the opposite side of the phone is relatively loud, replying, “No. You know my wife’s family just flew over from Ireland . I have the entire week off.” 

“Yeah, man, i get that but i cant come in today.”

“Steve. I can’t.”

“What’s that? You can? Thank you so much man. Ugh. I owe you big time. Tell your wife i said hi.” And he hangs up. Just like that. 

By the time he’s done with the call, the conversation has shifted, “Nah man. Not gay or straight. I’m like, above all of that, man. Too busy focusing on the pizzas, you know.” Crazy, but Steve says nothing, because a life without care for men or women sounds like bliss to him now. Especially as he looks over at Eddie who’s still scowling, fucking dick. 

Steve places the phone aside and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket, prying out a handful of bills and handing them over to Nancy, “For the supplies.” Robin’s eyes widen at this, and without thinking he says, “You have money?”

Obviously this takes everyone by surprise, wondering why Steve wouldn’t. He has the best paying job out of all of them, besides Eddie and Argyle considering they’re both millionaires. Eddie being a famous rockstar and Argyle owning an extremely popular pizza restaurant chain. Regardless, Steve can’t think of a reply as she adds, “No coke this week?”

Mike, being Mike, finds this hilarious, adding on, “Or weed. Or ket. Or pills?” 

There’s a very clear vibe shift in the room as all eyes land on Steve. They’re all relatively aware of Steve’s problem, but no one other than those closest to him (Robin, Max, Mike) realized it was that bad. Nancy rejects the handful of money and instead turns to glare at Robin who has covered her mouth, shocked by her own words. 

Eddie’s the most taken aback by this. The Steve he knew was relatively straight-edge. Sure, he smoked pot, but  to Eddie that’s nothing. Cocaine, though? To an extent where the other has become dependent on it? A nauseating feeling of concern overwhelms him, all of the bitterness he’d been feeling vanishing just like that. 

Panicked and embarrassed, Steve (poorly) plays the comment off, fake-laughing as he places the money down on the table in front of Nancy before stepping back and sitting down, “Funny, Robin. Anyway!” Time to change the subject, “I should get going. Or I guess we should get going.” He looks over at Max who nods and replies, “Yeah. Eddie and Dustin will have to come with us, though. Since Eddie’s car is at your place.” 

Steve awkwardly looks over at Eddie and gives him a thumbs up before saying, “Time to skedaddle, then.” Eddie’s looking back at him, no longer mad, an expression on his face Steve doesn’t know how to read. 

Dustin and Max get up as well, heading towards the exit, Eddie following suit. Steve stays back a moment, placing a hand on Robin’s shoulder as he whispers in her ear, “It’s alright.” Before giving her a quick hug. He knows her well enough to know she’ll be thinking about the comment all night if he didn’t put to rest right then and there. 

By the time Steve makes it to his truck everyone’s loaded in, Eddie and Dustin in the back, Max in the passenger seat. Max has her headphones on, blaring Blondie, while the other two boys sit in silence, occasionally talking between one another about the next day's plans.

Bored and stressed, Steve decides to distract himself by making conversation with a clearly anxious Dustin. “Yo, dude. Where’s Suzie? I haven’t seen her since dinner at the Wheeler’s.” 

Dustin’s eyes light up at the mention of her name and he quickly responds, “In the city visiting family, she should be back on Saturday. I miss her.” Steve can’t help but smile at that, watching the other in the rearview mirror as he asks, “I’m guessing things have been good, then?”

“Amazing, dude. Couldn’t be better,” Steve’s about to speak but Dustin cuts him off in order to continue, “She’s amazing. She understands me. She’s also so beautiful and so smart. You know we’ve never argued before?” Eddie cuts Dustin off to ask, “Never?”

He nods, “Never. I mean, there’s nothing to argue about. Everything is peachie, and if something comes up we just discuss it. We talk about it, communicate , like adults .” Dustin’s pointed tone doesn’t go unnoticed between the two, Eddie silently nodding while Steve’s eyes drift to the road. 

That’s not the end of it, though, as Max as a few things to add as well, “Relationships are all about trust. Like, i’m not a big fan of the fact Lucas has spent the past year on the opposite side of the country, surrounded by girls who want him, but i trust him. Trust is everything.” Dustin nods, agreeing as he says, “Trust is important, especially when doing distance. Communication and trusty.”

“You can’t trust someone you dont talk to.” Max says, before turning on the spot to look over at Eddie as she says, “The whole time Lucas was trying to get drafted he told me. I knew everything, every step of the way. He communicated with me, and so i trusted him.”

Eddie visibly recoils at Max’s comment, arms folding over his chest as he turns to look out the window. She has a point and he’s not fond of it, he has a lot to think about. 

“Speaking of Lucas, Argyle told me he saw him just before he came down here. His whole team did a publicity thing for Surfer Boy Pizza. According to him, the only thing Lucas spoke about was Max.” Dustin  says, smiling as Max shyly smiles, turning to look out the window.

Steve smiles at the comment as well, although he shifts the conversation, “I saw Argyle a few months back. He flew out to Hawkins just to try and convince me to invest in Surfer Boy Pizza; He wants me to open up a store.” 

“And you didn’t?” Dustin asks, sounding a bit surprised. 

“Of course not, dude. I have a job, and i’m not exactly interesting in working in a pizza restaurant for the rest of my life either.” Max humms a comment, “Steve Harrington doesn’t dream of labor, Dustin.”

“I don’t.” He doubles down, adding, “I think i was supposed to be some rich guy’s house wife but something fucked up in the womb and now i have a dick and balls and am expected to work a nine to five.” 

Max rolls her eyes at the comment but Dustin laughs, Eddie even chuckling a bit at the idea of  house wife Steve Harrington. The car ride after that is relatively quiet, Steve and Dustin joking b between one another, Max throwing in a few comments every now and then. 

A few moments later and Steve pulls up out the front of his trailer, Steve grabbing the CC album and Queen patch from the truck’s bonet before climbing out, everyone else following suit. 

“See you tomorrow, Steve. Meet back at Robin’s at 10, okay?” Dustin says, high fiving Steve as he backs away, towards Eddie’s car. Steve nods, “I’ll be there. Stay safe, call if you need anything.” He’s speaking to Dustin although it’s obvious his concern is targeted at Eddie who’s watching the conversation take place, on the opposite side of the car. 

The pair climb into the Pantera and with a wave they’re gone, leaving Steve and Max in their wake. Steve turns to Max, “Are you really going to stay the night with me?”

“Nah.” She shakes her head, “I know you’ll be fine. If you start screaming i’ll be able to hear it from my trailer and i’ll just come running.” 

Fair enough. She parts ways as well and Steve steps inside his trailer, throwing everything down on the counter as he flicks on the light. It’s 5pm. He should make himself something to eat, but after the crazy day he just had he has zero appetite.

His mind is racing, there’s just so much to process. 

First, the fight. There’s so much to unpack there. Jonathan admitting his feelings like that? Steve genuinely never suspected a thing, he wonders if the other actually meant it. Either way it doesn’t matter to him; Steve has no love for Jonathan Byers. Or at least not in that way. He loves him dearly, as a friend, nothing more. There’s nothing there.

Then the fight with Eddie. Again. The whole thing is beyond frustrating to Steve because he genuinely tried to do right by everyone, especially Eddie. He fully planned to end things with Jonathan now that Eddie was back for good… or at least thats what he tells himself. Realistically, he’s not sure what he was going to do. Jonathan has been the only stable thing in his life for the past three years, the idea of letting that go felt so scary. So dangerous. Now, because of all of this, the decision is entirely out of his hands. Jonathan is gone whether he likes it or not; and maybe thats a good thing. 

Steve makes his way towards his bedroom, wandering over to a chest, pulling a bottle advil out from one of the drawers. He casually pops the cap off, tipping it over into the palm of his hands, a few cones of weed falling out, “Nice.” 

The Vecna thing is obviously his main concern. Will seemed very sure that everything will be okay, but who’s to say. He can’t help but feel this is considerably worse than anyone is willing to admit. No one wants to think of the worst case possibility, because that’d mean admitting Vecna never died and has been spending the past five years growing stronger, regaining power to only come back and destroy them once and for all. 

Dustin’s right, too. They had Eleven last time. No one knows where she is. Steve doubts they can do it on their own. 

Before Steve has realized it he’s rolled and lit a blunt. It’s the ugliest blunt you’ve ever seen, oval in shape and barely held together but it’s something. He stumbles back and falls down onto his bed, wobbling a bit on top of his water filled mattress before taking a hit and falling back. 

Robin was right for saying what she did, Steve thinks. He never has extra money because of this habit he refuses to break. Paycheck after paycheck, at least half of it ends up down the drain on drugs, or the ridiculous shit he buys while high. That’s how he ended up with the motorbike sitting outside.

He’d been saving up to buy a house. Something small, two bedrooms maybe. But a real house. Then, after the incident, he got really high and went on a three  day long bender and woke up from it owning a motorbike. A Kawasaki Vulcan. It’s nice, sure, but not as nice as a fucking house. He doesn’t even like it that much, a sober Steve would have preferred something cooler. Like a Yamaha. 

Suddenly struck with an idea, Steve finds his feet again and wanders out of his bedroom, entering the kitchen again to collect the record and patch from the counter. As he walks back to his room, he admires the album cover again, eyeing down Jeff and Gareth. He was so caught up with Eddie  he hadn’t even noticed how much the pair had changed, how ripped Jeff is now, how he has dreads. Gareth is… well, he’s hot. Long, straight blonde hair, eyebrow piercing opposite to the one on his lip. 

Steve takes another hit from the blunt, keeping it between his lips as he rips the plastic cover off of the record and pulls it out, gently doing so. He remembers how particular Eddie was with his records, teaching him how to properly hold them; every time he handles one, he makes sure to do it properly. Finally he places the record down on the player, gently so, before manually moving the pin to the start of the record. 

He’s never heard a single CC song. He’s made sure to avoid them for years now, which has been hard given their commercial success. All of his favourite radio stations are littered with their music, or replaying one of the various interviews they've done with the band on repeat. On recollection Steve feels stupid for avoiding them so thorougly, but he was only protecting his feelings, can he really blame himself? 

Steve drops to all fours and pries a big, dusty, cupboard box out from under his bed next. There’s a bunch of old stuff in there, his old letterman jacket from high school as well as a handful of year books and school photos, a few old posters that were hung in his teenage bedroom, but the most important thing (at least to Steve); His battle jacket. 

Or Eddie’s battle jacket vest. It’s hard to say. Maybe they co-parent it, in the same way he and Robin co-parent Ozzy. It still feels wrong to Steve to claim it as  his own, but it’s not Eddie’s anymore, thats for sure. The thing has seen better days, the sleeves that were initially, poorly sewn on, barely hanging on, covered in dust, neglected. 

He jumps to his feet and dashes outside, shaking the jacket off, dust flying everywhere. One thing about these jackets is that you never, ever wash them in a machine. Or at all if you can avoid it. Steve remembers how disgusted he was when Eddie told him he’d never washed the thing, how he used to throw it in the freezer to ‘disinfect it.’ Now Steve understands why, there’s no way these patches could survive a machine wash, they’d fall off. 

Once the jacket has been properly dusted, Steve heads back to his room and throws it on his bed before sifting through the box again. A  moment later he pulls out his old flash gordon pencil case, full of sewing tools. 

Upon closing his bedroom door and turning the music up higher, Steve spends the next three hours fixing Eddie’s old jacket, listening to the CC album on repeat. First he attacks the sleeves, detaching them with a seam ripper onto to attach them again, properly this time. He’s learnt a thing or two during the past five years, sewing being one of those strange skills. 

Mrs Byers taught him. Given how close Steve has gotten to Hopper, it only makes sense he has a similar, close relationship to his wife. Steve has always liked her, though, ever since they first met the Christmas Will went missing. She’s the kindest person Steve has ever met, a part of him wishes things were different between he and Jonathan only so he’d be part of their family, but that’s impossible. 

Anyway, she taught him how to sew a few months after he got back from the academy. A lot of his old clothes had begun falling apart and Steve had no interest in replacing them, so she taught him how to sew. It was freeing, being able to modify or even create clothing from nothing. Unfortunately, though, he found himself far too busy to  spend hours at a time hand stitching patches to clothes and eventually forgot about the hobby entirely. 

It took a while, but the sleeves  were finally attached, permanently this time. Sewing through denim is kind of rough, Steve pricked himself multiple times and broke a handful of needles but he got there eventually. Now it’s time to attack the patch. 

He debates where to put it for a while but eventually decides to put it directly on the left hand pocket of the jacket. By now the joint was long gone and Steve was baked, but this only helps him concentrate, so hyper focused on properly attaching the patch that he didn’t notice the record end and automatically began playing itself again. He didn’t know his record player could even do that. 

Steve can’t help but notice the heart pin on the vest. The one he bought for it, giving Eddie a matching one. It was such a blatantly romantic gesture, Steve finds it hilarious a younger version of himself actually thought he was being slick about the whole thing. He’ll never apologize for being anxious about their relationship, between the aids pandemic and the rampant, unapolgetic gay bashing that’d been happening because of it, he had his reasons. 

He does, however, wishes he handled it differently. If he were open about his feelings towards Eddie, and explained to him his hesitation, who knows what could have happened. It’s frustrating to think about, because if he were just that little bit braver these past five years might not have been wasted time. Maybe they could have been together. 

For a long time he’d justify his actions, sort of trying to convince himself Eddie is better off for it anyway. That he never would have been able to be this successful if he had a boyfriend, that if anyone found out, or even suspected them, his career would have been over. Looking at this Queen patch now, though, Steve knows that isn’t the case. 

Freddie Mercury was a queer man. He never really spoke about it publicly, but amongst fans, it’s a well known fact. Not only that, though, he’d been living with a man for years up until his death who he referred to as his husband. If Freddie could do it, they definitely could have. That’s not even mentioning artists like Elton John, Bowie and Boy George, all incredibly successful and incredibly big fans of men. 

A part of Steve feels like he’s thrown their entire life away. A future together, the one and only thing he knew he wanted from the start. Maybe, to an extent, he has. There’s no getting back the time they’ve lost, anyway… But it’s not too late to try again. Steve is only twenty-four, Eddie is twenty-five. Why does he keep convincing himself his life is over before it’s even begun? 

An hour later and Steve has sewn the patch onto the jacket, holding it out in front of him to get a good look. He’s proud of himself, it looks amazing. Just like it did  all those years ago, if not better now that Steve has learnt how to actually sew. 

He jumps up and tosses it on, checking himself out in the mirror. He really does look young. It’s almost embarrassing. There’s very few signs of aging on his face besides a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes when he smiles, he oughta wear his sunglasses more. 

Content, Steve heads back out of his room and into the kitchen. He has a bowl of cereal for dinner and a single piece of bacon, before chugging down the abandoned coffee that had been left on the counter hours earlier (disgusting.) 

By now it’s 8pm, closer to 9 and Steve can’t think of a single reason to stay awake any longer. He has a shower, changes into a pair of comfortable pajamas and tucks himself into bed. He has a big day tomorrow, he needs his beauty sleep.