Work Text:
How it started
“Hey, Harrington?” Robin called, smirking. Steve wanted to sigh, or maybe run away, but he straightened his back and gave her the flattest look he could manage. “Remember that favor you owe me?”
“I don’t owe you a favor,” he replied immediately, although he had a sinking feeling that he did. It sounded familiar.
“I recall you agreeing to the bet a while back that you didn’t think the kids considered you a part of their group,” she reminded him. The smirk hadn’t left her face. “And after the whole… moving in with the Byers thing, it’s definitely been proven that you’re a part of their group. I dare you to say that you’re not in front of them.”
Steve would not be saying that in front of them. He was still baffled by their reaction the last time he’d said it. He was just… Steve. He didn’t know what they saw in him most days, other than a babysitter or a protector. “Alright, what about it?”
“I know what I want,” she informed him. She leaned back against the video counter casually, but he could see the way her shoulders were tensed. She was worried he’d say no. This was something that was important to her.
“And what is that?” he asked. He kept his body language as relaxed as possible, something he’d learned helped with other people’s anxiety from spending time around Will and Eleven. They tended to relax when he relaxed around them. Earn trust by giving trust, that kind of thing.
“I want you to come have dinner with my parents,” she told him.
Steve had been expecting her to ask him to drive her somewhere, or buy her something. He’d considered the possibility that she might want him to cover some of her shifts, or do the duties she didn’t like to do, even though he was no longer working at the Family Video. It hadn’t occurred to him that she’d ask for something so mundane. He eyed her suspiciously for a few seconds, and she actually squirmed. She was serious.
“Yeah… okay,” he finally replied. “Is that all?”
“Well,” she started, but then she stopped herself. It was weird for her to be so quiet. “Not exactly. My mom has been bugging me about finding a nice guy to settle down with, and you know why that’s not an option for me, but I can’t exactly tell her that it isn’t an option. Every time I change the subject, she gives me this sad look and just quietly says something about wanting what’s best for me, and she’s so disappointed… and my dad made a joke about me being queer last night. If he actually guesses it for real, and it stops being a joke to him… they’ll kick me out and disown me, Steve. Obviously I can’t ask a guy out, because we’d both be miserable. But it’s a well-known fact that Steve Harrington isn’t currently dating anyone, and you’re as straight as they come. If you come over and introduce yourself as my boyfriend, my mother will stop bothering me about settling down and my father won’t make any more jokes that are uncomfortably true.”
“Okay,” Steve said as he processed the verbal diarrhea she’d just spewed. It made sense, even if he didn’t like it. He really was notoriously single at this point, and he’d “dated” too many girls for anyone to even joke about him being queer. Her logic was sound. He let out a quiet sigh and offered her a hesitant smile. “Fine, so I'll introduce myself as your boyfriend. We spend enough time together for it to be believable. But what happens when I find someone that I actually could date?”
“It doesn’t have to be a long term thing!” Robin said quickly. Her shoulders had finally relaxed, and he was glad for it. “Come have dinner with us once or twice, keep hanging out with me and be seen with me so it can get back to my folks, and then we can stage a big break-up in a couple weeks. We can make it dramatic enough that I might be able to buy myself time being ‘heartbroken’ until I can graduate and officially move out.”
“You’ve really given this some thought,” Steve said after a couple more seconds. Robin was grinning now, and it was infectious.
“Well, yeah. You have to think about these things when you’re… not like everyone else,” she shrugged. “It’s not like I can just waltz up to my parents and tell them all about my massive crush on Tammy Thompson.”
“No, I don’t imagine that you could,” Steve agreed with a soft laugh. The situation wasn’t really amusing, but his laugh made her relax the rest of the way. “Okay, but when this is done, we’re even. Right?”
“Of course,” she agreed instantly. “Completely even.”
The First Time
The door swung open less than three seconds after Steve knocked on it. Robin gave him a quick smile, which grew when she saw the bouquet of flowers he was holding. She raised her eyebrows pointedly as she pulled him inside, but she didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she tugged him into the sitting room, and shoved him until he sat down on the couch with her.
“Mom, Steve is here! We’re going to hang until dinner is ready!” she shouted as she sat down beside him. Steve didn’t have to strain to hear the response.
“Alright, dear! Keep the bedroom door open!” Robin’s face turned a dark shade of pink and she dropped her face into her hands. Steve had to clear his throat to keep from laughing out loud.
“They really don’t know you at all, do they?” he whispered to her, and she gave him a look that was both miserable and amused.
“Dad is worse, I swear,” she whispered back. “He’ll be home from work any minute now. Just… avoid talking about the usual sensitive topics and we’ll be fine.”
“No talking about the Upside Down, or Commies, or the gays, got it,” Steve shot back, grinning. Robin elbowed him in the arm as hard as she could.
“How about you just aim for not being a complete jackass, okay?” she replied, rolling her eyes. He let out an exaggerated sigh that had her looking to the doorway to make sure they weren’t being heard.
“You’re taking all of the fun out of this for me,” he informed her, completely deadpan. She rolled her eyes again. “Do you just have no faith in my abilities to be a gentleman? I did date Nancy Wheeler for a pretty long time. Her parents still love me. It’s how I get away with spending so much time with the kids. They’re almost always camped out in the Wheeler basement.”
“Yeah, let’s maybe not discuss the girl you’re still hung up on, or your six children,” Robin said quickly. “We’re trying to be believable here.”
“If you don’t want me to talk about the kids, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be saying,” he pointed out. “Pretty much my whole life is driving them around and keeping them out of trouble.”
“You could discuss your brand new job at the station,” she pointed out. “Or talk about how much you miss working with me, because we don’t get to spend enough time together anymore. Or even mention that you’re looking for an apartment, because my dad has a strange fascination with real estate and he might be able to help you.”
“I thought you wanted me to impress your parents?” he asked, frowning. She nodded. “How is admitting that I’m basically homeless going to impress them?”
“You’re not going to like the answer to that,” she told him after a moment.
“Try me,” he told her, bracing himself for something awful.
“It’s pretty common knowledge around town at this point that your dad kicked you out,” she said softly, reaching out to take his hand. “Everyone knows you’re staying with the Byers right now. I think my dad would be impressed if you bring it up, because it shows you have maturity and humility. Or something like that.”
Steve didn’t get a chance to reply, because the door slammed open and Robin’s father stomped inside. He didn’t appear to be in a good mood, and he didn’t stop to greet them. He disappeared through a door to the left and they could both hear Robin’s mother greeting him. The quiet murmur of their voices barely reached the living room, and Steve couldn’t guess what they were saying. He was really hoping it wasn’t something about him. Robin gave his hand another squeeze, and he forced himself to relax.
“Dinner is ready!” Robin’s mother called, finally appearing in the doorway. She was smiling brightly, and she pulled Steve into a hug as soon as he was close enough. Steve returned it with one arm, refusing to let go of Robin’s hand just yet. Meeting the parents never got any easier, especially not when he was essentially lying to them. “It’s lovely to meet you, dear.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Buckley,” Steve assured her, kissing her cheek and offering the flowers as soon as she let him go. She fussed over them as he’d expected, leading the way to the dining room table.
“Call me Melissa, dear,” she told him kindly. “It’s so nice to finally meet Robin’s boyfriend! I’ve been asking her to bring you around for such a long time now. Though I hope she didn’t pressure you into coming tonight.”
Steve shot Robin a quick glance, since Melissa’s back was turned, and she gave him a panicked look. He had to grin as he replied. “Nah, not at all. I’m pretty excited to meet you! I really like Robin.”
“Hopefully not too much,” Mr. Buckley grumbled as he entered the room from the other side. In the five minutes he’d been out of sight, he seemed to have changed out of his work clothes. Steve couldn’t remember in that moment what he did for a living. He hoped nobody was going to quiz him or anything.
“Robert,” Melissa chided, turning to give him a firm look. Steve was amazed to see that the man actually looked embarrassed. (It was possible that Steve was too used to the dynamic his own parents had, in which his father’s word was law and his mother remained silent.)
Dinner was a quiet affair. Mrs. Buckley had made parmesan chicken and the most delicious fettuccine that Steve had ever tasted. (He made sure to get the recipe before he left, because he knew that Joyce would love it and he was always looking for new ways to pay her back.) He was asked about his job, which he told them he absolutely loved. He was asked about college, which he was proud to declare that he was officially accepted to. He dutifully brought up his apartment search, and Mr. Buckley gave him a mildly impressed look as he told him all about an apartment building that was mostly vacant and in decent condition.
Steve left the Buckleys’ home with a Tupperware of leftovers, a recipe for delicious fettuccine, and a promise that he would return soon. Robin actually kissed him on the cheek in gratitude before she shut the door behind him. All in all, he was declaring it a success.
The second time
Steve was technically on the clock, but he wasn’t at the station, and he wasn’t on patrol. He’d annoyed Flo, and Hopper had told him in no uncertain terms that he was to fix it. So Steve was walking to the diner to pick up Flo’s favorite order for lunch, in the hopes that it would appease her. Nobody wanted an angry Flo.
He was expecting to run into at least one or two of the kids on his walk, and he was prepared for it. Dustin spent a lot more time around him now that he had an official badge. He’d stopped carrying a loaded gun after the first time Dustin had gotten it out of the holster before he could stop him. The last thing he wanted was for one of the kids to be injured by something belonging to him.
He was not expecting to run into Robin and her mother at the diner. He made it to the counter without being seen, placed and paid for the order, and had almost made it out the door again…
“Steve Harrington!” Melissa called cheerfully from across the diner. Every single conversation stopped, and Steve closed his eyes in resignation. He squared his shoulders and put on the brightest smile he could muster as he turned to greet them.
“Mrs. Buckley! Robin!” he called, moving towards their table. He was hoping the rest of the conversation could remain just between them, and not be heard by the entire rest of the diner. He didn’t have much hope, though.
“What brings you here? You’re not staying to eat?” Mrs. Buckley asked, smiling happily. “You’re welcome to join us, you know.”
“Yeah Steve, won’t you join us?” Robin asked, giving him puppy dog eyes. He hated puppy dog eyes.
“Oh, I really can’t,” he said quickly. “I’ve gotta get this back to Flo. She’s not feeling well, and we’re all hoping that food might help.” (It wasn’t too big of a lie.)
“That’s very sweet of you,” Mrs. Buckley told him. She turned to Robin with a bright smile. “Aren’t you so lucky, darling? He’s such a sweet boy.”
Robin’s eyes were a little too tight at the edges for her smile to be real. “Yeah. I’m really lucky. He’s the sweetest.”
“We’ll let you get back to saving the day, Mr. Harrington,” Mrs. Buckley told him, turning her attention back to Steve. “Perhaps you’ll be able to join us next time.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Buckley,” Steve replied with a forced smile. “And you can call me Steve, you know.”
He made it most of the way back to the station before Robin caught up to him. She slid her arm around his, falling into step beside him and trying to catch her breath. He stayed quiet, knowing that she’d followed because there was something she wanted to say to him. He wasn’t disappointed.
“I’m sorry,” she said as soon as she’d caught her breath again. “I was trying to keep her distracted, but she looked over at exactly the wrong time. She wants me to invite you for dinner tonight, but I’m going to tell her that you volunteered to work the late shift. Do me a favor and just stay home tonight? I really don’t want it getting back to her that we lied. Too many questions will be asked, you know?”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a sigh. When he’d agreed to do this, he’d known that it was going to mean giving up some of his freedom. He didn’t regret it- yet. He was pretty sure Robin wouldn’t let it get that far.
“Thank you. You’re the best, Harrington,” she told him quietly.
And really, what could he say to that other than, “Any time, Buckley.”
The third time
The bullet wound had come as a surprise to literally everyone in Hawkins. Steve had gone through training with guns when he was first hired. Hopper himself had taught him how to aim correctly for every single shot. He’d been taught how to run and dodge, and he’d been told repeatedly that if he was going out on a call that might seem like there could be gunfire he was to wear a vest. Steve was pretty comfortable around guns at this point.
The call he’d gone out on was about a little girl who’d been left alone in her house for a full day. The concerned neighbor had called in the neglect when she’d looked out in the morning to see that the car was still not in the driveway. The little girl was three years old. Steve was pretty sure Hopper had only sent him because it was guaranteed to be safe.
It was not safe.
The little girl had apparently decided that being left alone meant she could go through all of her parents’ things. He found her sitting in what had to be her father’s closet, a loaded handgun laying in her lap. She looked up at him with big, brown eyes full of tears. Steve had calmly held out his hand and asked for the gun, thinking it would be that easy. And it was… kind of.
The little girl had picked up the gun as carefully as she could, but she aimed it straight at Steve’s stomach when she held it out to him. And before his hand could close around the barrel, her little fingers slipped. She tried to catch it, and she somehow managed to squeeze the trigger…
Steve remembered tugging the gun away from her sharply as soon as it had gone off. He remembered the little girl starting to bawl her eyes out because of the loud noise. He remembered a burst of the worst pain he’d ever felt in his life… and then he remembered nothing at all.
He woke up in the hospital with a machine beeping loudly in his ear and a hand clenched tightly around his own. His abdomen didn’t hurt, and that was a nice surprise. He definitely remembered what had happened to him; anyone on tv who said it takes time to remember when you wake up in the hospital are full of shit, in his opinion. He let out a hoarse groan, and the hand around his got impossibly tighter.
“Steve? Steve, can you hear me?” Robin asked, directly into his ear. He forced his eyes open just so he could glare at her for being so loud. His head was killing him. “Oh god, you’re really awake. Thank god…”
“R’bin?” It was strangely hard for him to form words at first, and that just annoyed him even further. He had not woken up in a good mood. “W’as happenin’?”
“You got shot, you idiot!” she informed him. She used her free hand to smack his arm, and he didn’t wince for the first time ever. They must have had him on the good drugs. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again! I thought you were going to die!”
“How are you here?” Steve asked, waking up more by the second. He was pretty sure that the only people allowed into hospital rooms of unconscious patients before they’d been fully cleared by a doctor were members of family: more specifically, parents. Robin was neither of those things.
“When you didn’t get back to the station after the first half hour, Hopper went to find you. He figured you got distracted or something, and he was going to drag you back to the station to do paperwork. He found a toddler crying over your unconscious, bleeding body. He told me it wasn’t hard to guess what happened from there,” she informed him. “He got you to the hospital, and then he started the process of informing your family.”
“Bet my parents loved hearing I failed in yet another way,” Steve sighed. Robin gave him a strange look.
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t think Hopper bothered to tell them,” she replied. “He called the Byers family first, since you’ve been living with them. He got Will to radio the other kids, and I think he told Nancy himself? I’m not sure.”
“When did he call you?” Steve asked. The funny look returned with a vengeance.
“He didn’t,” she replied, sounding hesitant now. “I got the call from… someone else. And I got here as fast as I could, because I thought you were going to die. That was two days ago, Steve. ”
“I told you that stomach wounds are not as fatal as they were even five years ago, Robin. Young Mr. Harrington will be perfectly fine,” the doctor said from the doorway. He looked very familiar, but Steve couldn’t quite place where he knew him from. “Move away, please. I need to inspect his bandages before the crowd in the waiting room is informed that he’s awake.”
Robin didn’t look like she wanted to release Steve’s hand, and Steve didn’t really want her to either. It was comforting to have his best friend by his side while he was in a hospital bed for what had to be the fourth time in three years. He hated hospitals at this point. The doctor looked between them, an amused little smile flitting across his face for a single second.
“I promise you can hold hands with your boyfriend again in less than a minute, alright?” he pressed, gesturing for her to step back. She let out a sigh and obeyed, staring at the floor.
“He’s really okay, Dad?” she asked, and Steve thought his heart was going to stop in his chest. The machine he was hooked up to made a funny little beep, and Mr.- no, Dr.- Buckley gave him an amused look like he knew exactly what had caused it.
“He’s going to be just fine. He’ll be on desk duty for at least a month, but he saved a child’s life and has the respect of most of the town now,” he told them gently. “You certainly have my respect, Mr. Harrington. I’m quite glad that my daughter has someone like you to depend on.”
“So the little girl is okay?” Steve asked, choosing to ignore the rest of the statement. He was too drugged up and exhausted to play a believable boyfriend for Robin, and he’d be damned if he ruined her plan.
“She’s just fine. She’s staying with the neighbor who called in the report while the police try to locate her family. There’s a bit of concern that they might have gotten into an accident. I suppose this isn’t normal behavior for them,” he confirmed. “Now, how are you feeling? I’d imagine your head aches, but how is the wound? No pain? Good.”
The bandage inspection took less than a minute, as promised. As soon as Dr. Buckley stepped away to write on his clipboard, Robin took his hand again. She settled herself into the chair by his bed, listening attentively as her father detailed how to care for the bandages and clean the wound once he was released. He was glad that Robin was paying attention, because Steve’s mind kept wandering.
“Are you up for more visitors, Mr. Harrington?” he asked when he’d finally finished. Steve gave a short nod, knowing that the kids were likely all out there and worried out of their minds about him. He’d be willing to bet that none of the little shits had slept since he’d gotten shot. He was completely sure that Robin hadn’t slept, either. “I’ll let them know that you’re awake. They’ll be allowed to stay for only one hour. Robin, you’re responsible for keeping track and sending them away.”
“Okay,” she nodded, looking like she fully intended to do just that. He was touched, and also completely certain that at least two of those kids wouldn’t be leaving no matter what anyone said or did. Himself included. As soon as her father was gone, she turned her attention back to him. “He called me as soon as he got word that you were injured, and he made sure he got assigned to be your doctor himself. Nobody tried to fight him on it.”
“Why would he do that?” Steve asked, completely baffled. Robin rolled her eyes. “He didn’t even like me that much at dinner, and I haven’t spoken to him since that night. I mean… if it was your mom, I’d understand.”
“Steve,” she started, looking at him like he was a particularly incompetent child. “Whether he liked you or not before you were admitted here, he adores you now. Pretty much everyone does. You saved a toddler from accidentally shooting herself. And it helps that we’re dating.”
“ You’re dating?!”
Steve let out a loud groan, reaching up with his free hand to cover his face. This was exactly what he’d hoped to avoid in all of this. He didn’t really care if Robin’s family thought that they were dating. He also didn’t care if the housewives of Hawkins thought they were a cute couple thanks to Mrs. Buckley bragging about her daughter snatching up one of the town’s ‘most eligible bachelors’. He had hoped with all of his heart that his kids never caught wind of it. They’d never let it go.
“Oh god, uh,” Robin fumbled, staring with wide eyes at the troop of children that were assembled in the doorway. Dustin was definitely the one who’d spoken up, being that he was the one who’d been pushing so much for them to date in the first place. This was the first time Steve had ever seen Robin completely speechless. There was no telling when her father would come back, so she couldn’t blatantly deny it, but she knew that Steve didn’t want to lie to his kids.
“Yeah,” he sighed after she trailed off. “It’s been a secret because it’s still really new.”
“You’ve been telling me that you didn’t want to date her!” Dustin exclaimed, looking equally excited and angry. “Have you been lying this whole time?”
“Friends don’t lie,” El reminded him, raising her eyebrows. Steve was pretty sure that she knew they weren’t really dating, just based on the look he was getting from her. She’d backed him into a bit of a corner, and he had to do some quick thinking. Steve Harrington might not be very book-smart, but he had plenty of street-smarts.
“Sometimes you have to lie about little things, to protect other people,” he told her gently. “You’re right that lying is never okay, but sometimes it’s the best option out of a lot of bad options. Do you understand?”
El studied him for a little bit before she gave him a short nod. He was glad that she was at least willing to let it go for now. He’d talk to her at a later time, explain himself more fully when it wouldn’t ruin Robin.
The Party assembled around his bed and took turns regaling him with stories of things that had happened while he was unconscious, and he was happy to listen to their excited voices even if he didn’t retain much of what they were saying. Towards the end of the hour they were given, Joyce and Hopper came in to check on him. Joyce cried while she smoothed his hair away from his face, and Hopper gave him a lecture about ignoring all of the gun training he’d gone through that ended with a quiet ‘good job, kid’ that had Steve choking back tears of his own.
When he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, Hopper and Robin worked together to shuffle the kids out of the room. Most of them went with a promise of returning in the morning, but just as Steve had known would happen, Dustin and Eleven had thrown fits worthy of the three-year-old he’d saved and were allowed to stay. He was pretty sure it would take the Upside Down opening up again to drag the two of them away for the next few days, and he was strangely okay with that.
And then…
True to the doctor’s word, Steve was released from the hospital only to end up on desk duty for the foreseeable future. Flo greeted him with a kiss to the cheek and a brand new coffee mug for his desk. (It was dark green with the words ‘Hawkins’ Finest’ printed in white lettering, and he adored it.) He spent the first week answering the phone and filing paperwork. The second week went much the same. By the third week, Steve wanted to shoot himself again just to have something new to look at.
“No, kid,” Hopper said every single time Steve requested to ride along on calls, even when he promised to just stay in the car. He was getting restless, though, and he knew that Hopper knew it. Maybe that’s why he was asked to pick up lunch from the diner for everyone. Hopper handed him the keys to his favorite cruiser and everything, with strict instructions to go straight to the diner and back, NO detours.
The very first thing that Steve did as soon as he left in the cruiser was to take a detour. He was going to pick Dustin up and make him carry the food when they picked it up. He had the windows down as he cruised down the street, and that’s why he heard the voices of the last people he expected.
“I’m just saying, Buckley…”
“And I’m just saying that you need to back the hell off,” Robin spat angrily. Steve could hear the way her voice was shaking. He pulled the cruiser to the curb and was halfway out of it before he heard the third voice.
“Come on, honey, he just wants to play. He won’t bite unless you ask him to, I promise,” the girl laughed. Steve knew those voices, not that he’d heard them in a while. He hadn’t heard from Tommy and Carol since their falling out a few years ago.
“Unless you really are a queer,” Tommy jeered. Steve was getting angrier by the second. “Are you saying the rumors are true?”
“I think what she’s saying is that she doesn’t want an asshole’s hands on her,” Steve chimed in casually as he rounded the corner. The scene he was greeted with made him clench his fists. Tommy had Robin backed against the side of the Family Video, too far away from the backdoor for her to escape. Carol was standing between her and the door, smirking. Robin looked so relieved to see him that he didn’t even hesitate to shoulder his way between her and Tommy to wrap a comforting arm around her. “Don’t you have better things to do than force yourself on women?”
“What’s it to you, Harrington?” Carrie asked sharply. “Thought you wanted nothing to do with us?”
“I absolutely want nothing to do with you,” Steve agreed easily, keeping his voice as even as possible. Tommy had backed away a little when he’d noticed the uniform Steve was wearing. Smart, since Steve could and would arrest the asshole if he tried anything. “But you made this my business when you tried to force yourself on my girlfriend.”
“Your-” Tommy gaped at them, taking another step back.
“Yes,” Steve replied. He shifted Robin a little so that she was behind him as he advanced on Tommy. “My girlfriend. And if I catch you so much as talking about her again, you won’t have to worry about being arrested. You’ll be in the hospital. Do I make myself clear? ”
Tommy held out his hand for Carrie, who took it and allowed herself to be pulled down the alley and away from Robin and Steve. “Crystal,” Tommy spat. Then they both turned away, running around the corner.
Steve slumped in relief the moment they were gone, before he remembered that Robin was still behind him. He spun on his heel and took a couple quick steps toward her to check on her. “Are you okay? Did he actually touch you? Because I’ll go get my bat and hunt him down if he did.”
“No, you showed up right on time,” Robin said quickly. She was shaking, though. Steve wasn’t sure if it was adrenaline, or the shock of what had just almost happened catching up to her. Either way, he wasn’t leaving her here alone.
“Go tell Keith that you’re leaving, okay? Tell him you’re sick or something. I’m not leaving you alone for the rest of the day. You can hang around my desk at the station, then come home with me,” he told her. She nodded and headed for the door, then paused and turned back to him.
“We could stage that breakup whenever, you know,” she told him casually. He could see the way her fists were clenching, and her eyes had that tightness that only came with stress. He shook his head.
“Turns out I don’t really mind pretending to date you,” he told her gently. “It’s not like I’ve got any prospects of my own, and it’s keeping you safe.”
She studied him for a long time, then nodded slowly. A small smile pulled at her lips. “Sometimes you make me wish I was into guys, Harrington.”
“But then who would I have to talk about girls with?” he teased, prompting a laugh from her. “Go on, before Hopper sends out a search party for me.”
It had started as a way to pay back a bet, but Steve had found that he was glad Robin had asked him to be her “boyfriend”. He wouldn’t change it for anything. It made everyone around them happy, and it kept her safe. He would do it until she didn’t need him anymore, and he’d be proud to call her his “girlfriend”. That’s just the kind of guy that Steve Harrington was.