Chapter Text
STEVE
Steve has no idea why he agreed to this. And he tells Robin as much when they are stuck behind the counter of Family Video again two days later. He'd spent the rest of his Monday classes and pretty much all of the following day going back and forth between being okay with his decision and regretting every part of that conversation with Eddie.
“What do I do, Robin? He'll explain it to me and I won’t understand shit and he’ll just find out that I’m stupid and then we won’t hang out anymore and-“
Robin turns around to him and threateningly holds a video tape so close to Steve’s face that he goes cross eyed looking at it.
“Would you shut up, Dingus?! First of all, you’re not stupid, sometimes that nerd shit is just unnecessarily complicated and second, even if you back out in the end he won’t just stop being your friend you-”, with that she shoves the tape even closer to his face and Steve has to lean back to avoid being hit in the face. “-are just being dramatic, which tells me that you’ve spent too much time with Eddie already.”
Robin turns back to the pile of tapes she'd been sorting through earlier and Steve sighs. He knows she's probably right but the worry just won't leave him. He's glad that Eddie asked because it will give him an excuse to hang out with him but that also means that he will have more time to do something stupid, like get too close to Eddie’s face and kiss him or something. If he does that, Eddie will definitely stop being his friend.
Apparently his thoughts are way too obvious to his best friend because Robin groans next to him. “Stop worrying Steve, just let him explain the rules and if it goes way over your head you can just tell him and it’s gonna be fine.”
Steve turns around to face her, once again glad that the store is empty right now. Not that many people come in to rent a movie on a Wednesday afternoon. He really can't believe her sometimes, because nothing will be fine if he doesn't even get the basic rules of the game. “It’s not gonna be fine Robin, he’ll just think I’m stupid or something.”
Robin groans again and lets her head fall against Steve’s shoulder in an exaggerated movement. “I swear Steve, you are killing me.”
She's silent for a moment and Steve doesn't dare to move, he doesn't want to interrupt whatever Robin is thinking about because maybe she's coming up with something helpful right now. Finally she moves her head off of him and faces Steve again. “If you kiss a boy before I kiss a girl, I’m going to punch you!”
Steve can't help but laugh. This is not at all what he expected but it's such a Robin-thing to say and he loves her for it. “I’m gonna keep it in mind.”
“You better, I’m gonna punch you so hard you’re going to regret doing it before I got my chance.”
They go back to working after that as the bell at the door rings not even a minute later to announce a customer.
EDDIE
Eddie isn't sure what's going on with Steve but since he'd asked him about joining the next Hellfire campaign the other had been weird. And not weird in the way that he always seems to operate on with no sleep and his weird attachment to a bunch of freshmen. Weird as in he's going out of his way to not spent any time alone with Eddie, and Eddie had just started to believe that Steve enjoys talking to him without any of the others around.
Eddie decides that maybe Steve hates him after all and regrets that he'd agreed to Eddie’s suggestion. Because that has to be it, why else would Steve avoid him if not to have enough time to get out of their agreement to meet on Friday to plan his character?
Eddie wiss seriously starting to wonder if their tentative friendship will be over just like that. If it will really end now just after it began only because Eddie decided to be an idiot and to pressure Steve, who clearly has no interest in their nerd game, into playing DnD only because he needs a reason to spend more time with him.
Eddie is ripped out of his thoughts by a loud knock on his door followed by someone calling his name. It sounds very much like a certain freshman he knows.
Eddie gets up from the couch where he had surrounded himself with his DnD books to prepare everything for Friday and the upcoming campaign and goes to open the door. Like he expected, it's Dustin who is facing him as soon as the door isn't in between them anymore.
Dustin looks slightly out of breath and his bike lying in the grass in front of the trailer confirmes to Eddie that he just biked here. The kid is truly a lunatic. Eddie leans against the frame of the door and curiously looks at Dustin as the other tries to regain his breath. “Can I help you Henderson?”
Dustin nods in agreement but he still seems to need a moment until he can talk properly again so Eddie just walks inside, expecting Dustin to follow and shut the door behind him.
Eddie actually can't care less about whether the door is open or not because what would you steal from the trailer anyways, but it's been getting colder over the last few weeks and the late September air is already more chilling than it has any business being.
Dustin trails after him and stops in the middle of the living room while Eddie lets himself fall down onto the only free spot of the couch, the rest still covered in open books. He watches as Dustin’s gaze wanders over the books on the table and the couch all around Eddie until it comes to rest on him.
Eddie does his best to keep his expression passive and he knows that he succeeds because he’s had a lot of experience not showing his emotions back in the lab. Dustin lets out a huff before he apparently decides to just sit on the ground since there is no space for him anywhere else.
“Are you planning the next campaign for Hellfire?”, he asks and it seems to be a genuine question. As if Eddie would cover the whole living room in his DnD stuff just for fun or to annoy Wayne.
“Seriously, Dustin, that was an incredibly dumb question. Last time I checked I didn’t play DnD with any other party.”
Dustin rolls his eyes at that. The audacity of this child.
“Okay but why…”, he trails off and looks at the book closest to him. “Why is this opened to a table of character classes?”
Eddie glances over at the book Dustin is looking at, but he doesn't have to take a closer look to know what exactly Dustin is talking about. It's just a chart with character classes and races and Eddie just spent the last ten minutes staring at it because he can't decide what would fit Steve best.
Trying to figure this specific thing out has been a great way to realise that he doesn't know much about Steve apart from the little snippets he gets at school and from hanging out one on one all of three times. He can add some rumours from the last few years to that but not much more. Steve Harrington turns out to be a far more complicated puzzle than Eddie would have thought. And that is coming from the guy who can literally never tell anyone about where and how he actually grew up.
Just as Eddie wants to answer Dustin’s question about the open page of the book the boy’s eyes widen and Eddie stops himself. He really wants to know what kind of thought process just went through Dustin’s head.
“Did you recruit a new Hellfire member?”, his voice is hesitant but he also seems deep in thought, as if he's contemplating who this new recruit could possibly be.
Eddie spreads his arms out on his sides and grins widely. “Ten points to you Henderson, took you long enough to piece it together.”
Dustin just frowns. “But who is it? I didn’t see you talking to anyone in school or something.”
Really, for how smart Henderson is, sometimes he is just so incredibly dumb. Eddie groans in annoyance and lets himself fall back against the couch. “Please tell me you’re not serious right now Henderson!”
The one in question just keeps frowning for a moment until it seems like some points have been connected and an expression that can only be described as a mix of disbelieve and excitement spreads across his face.
“Did you get Steve to finally say yes?! We’ve been trying to do that for weeks!”
Eddie raises himself up from the back of the couch again and waves Dustin off. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I actually think that’s part of why he said yes in the first place, to get you guys off of him.”
Dustin nods in understanding and his gaze falls down to the open books spread all around him again. He seems to think about something and Eddie decides to just wait and find out what it is instead of interrupting whatever is going on in that head right now.
He glances over at the clock on the wall and realises that it's later than he had thought. This was never supposed to take so long, he'd just wanted to get a vague idea of what kind of character would fit Steve so he can start planning the campaign. He did not anticipate to unearth that Steve is a fucking enigma in and of himself.
Dustin cuts off his thoughts before he can delve too deep into that again. “So how exactly did you manage to convince him? He doesn’t even know how DnD really works and like I said, we’ve been trying for weeks.”
Eddie shruggs. “I offered that he could try it out for a short campaign and if he doesn't like it he doesn't have to join. Maybe you should have considered that before pestering him about it every single day.”
Eddie grins at the boy sitting on his carpet and Dustin only rolls his eyes in annoyance. “Okay, okay, I get it. We were very annoying and you’re literally best friends with Steve now.”
Now it's Eddie’s turn to roll his eyes. “You know very well we’re not. I’m pretty sure that place is reserved for Robin and Robin only. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they’re dating.”
He honestly doesn't know better except for Steve’s insistence that they are just friends.
But he isn't blind and can see how the two of them sometimes glance at each other across the cafeteria or how they have whole conversations in the hallways without even talking to each other. Or how Steve drives Robin to school and back home every single day. They even work at the same place and he knows they worked at Scoops Ahoy together as well because he'd seen them there the one time he had dragged himself into the mall to see if there was anything worth his while to find there.
Turned out there wasn’t, but he had filed the image of Steve Harrington in that stupid sailor outfit away in some corner of his mind. Looking back it's no surprise that he has a full on crush on the guy now.
Dustin doesn't seem to notice the internal conflict he's got going on and he's honestly glad about that. “I also told him that it’s bullshit, you know? The two are perfect for each other but Steve just doesn’t listen, just keeps saying that he isn’t Robin’s type and that they’re platonic with a capital P.”
Dustin actually puts that last part in air quotes and Eddie is really glad that he's good at keeping his feelings from showing on his face. Because who would say that Steve Harrington of all people is not their type? Seriously, Robin has to be out of her mind.
“Can I help you with the planning?”
Eddie’s thoughts come to an abrupt halt. “What?!”
To be honest he's been too caught up thinking about Steve and Robin and the apparent not-relationship going on between them that he'd forgotten what they were originally talking about for a moment.
“You know, with the character. I could help make it, I have some ideas.”
And honestly Eddie wanted this to be a one on one thing but as Steve turns out to be far more mysterious than he'd thought he decides that maybe it will be a good idea to invite Dustin along. He will obviously pretend like he had Steve all figured out while they were doing it but Dustin doesn't have to know how clueless he actually feels about Steve right now.
“Alright Henderson, we’re meeting Friday after school at Steve’s place.”
STEVE
Steve is aware that he's been avoiding Eddie but he also doesn't know how to stop. Eddie must know that something is going on so he decides to just keep his act going until they meet at his place on Friday. In the back of his mind a small part of him is screaming that this is a bad idea that will definitely backfire on him but he decides to ignore it.
He hasn't slept that much since Monday, first because of excitement as he realised this means he can spent more time with Eddie without having to come up with a reason, and then because of the dread that settled in his stomach at the thought of being really shitty at DnD. The nightmares also don't help at all. This all leads to Steve being incredibly exhausted when he prepares himself to chat with El Thursday night.
He's alone at home and while it's been nice to be with Robin last week while he did this, he's glad to be on his own today.
Robin has the annoying habit of talking to him while he's in the black in-between thing and it always takes him a lot of concentration to not let himself be pulled back by her words. Especially when he is incredibly tired, which is a constant since everything happened at Starcourt, first with the Russians and then the Mindflayer, less than three months ago.
He settles down on the ground in front of his bed, the radio in front of him and turned to a channel that is only spitting out static. Steve takes the bandana he uses as a blind fold and ties it around his head.
Before he met El he hadn’t done this very often. First because he didn’t want to spy on anyone and didn’t even know what exactly to do with this part of his abilities, and then because he had trouble actually shutting off the outside world enough to be able to focus on the in-between and nothing else.
It's been easier back in the lab but here there were so many noises and other impressions constantly beating around his head that it's been hard to focus on anything.
El showed him all the tricks she uses to use this ability and then they trained together and figured out that they could contact the other this way, and talk to each other when they both entered the black space. They will probably be able to contact others like them too, but El told him that Eight doesn't want anything to do with them and as far as they know everyone else is dead.
Died the day Steve escaped, running through the hallways filled with dead bodies. Steve has no idea how El survived that day but he never asked her. If she wants to talk about it she’ll tell him and maybe she just doesn’t remember it and he doesn't want to pull up any painful memories that are buried somewhere in her mind where she doesn’t have to remember them.
Steve shuts off his thoughts and focuses on the static. He lets his mind float away, lets everything around him fade away until he was standing in the black space, bare feet submerged in the water that always covers the ground. El is already there, sitting cross-legged a few feet away from him. She leans her head slightly to the side as she looks at him while Steve approaches her and sits down opposite her, mirroring her pose. “You’re late.”
Steve shrugs. He really doesn't want to talk about this and he really hopes that El won't see through him. She isn't one for social cues but she did grow up in the same environment as he did and can tell when he is hiding something. She is generally very good at being able to tell when someone is hiding something from her.
“I’m just tired.”
El nods with a serious expression on her face. Steve isn’t sure why but it's kind of adorable. “I have nightmares too.”
“I think we can open a club.”, Steve smiles at her and he hopes it looks reassuring. “How is school going?”
El sighs and she seems to deflate a bit. There is a sadness in her eyes that he hates and he desperately wishes he could wipe it away. But he can't because she is in California and he is stuck in Hawkins.
“The others don’t really like me, I think they can tell I’m different and weird.”
Steve leans forward when he hears that and pulls El towards him into a hug. “You’re not weird El, at least not in a bad way. I know this is easy to say but don’t listen to them. You’re so much better than them and they don't deserve you.”
He means it, every word he says. He's been King Steve for most of his time in school but he realises now that it's hard when you don't belong into the popular crowd. And El is the new weird girl from Indiana, it's no surprise that she is having a hard time.
“Did you tell Joyce about this?”, Steve asks into El’s hair. It nearly reaches her shoulders now and she'd recently told him that she wants to grow it out like Max’s hair. El shakes her head, face still hidden in Steve’s shoulder and arms firmly wrapped around him.
“El, if you don’t tell her I will, I’m not joking.”
She pulls back from him a bit. “But she can’t help, I have to do this on my own.”
Steve shakes his head and grabs her by the shoulders. “No, you don’t. She can help you figure out what to do, maybe even talk to your teachers if you want that. And even if it doesn’t help you’d have someone to listen.”
El frowns at him. “I have you.”
“That’s different, I’m not there with you.”
After a moment of hesitation El finally nods. “I’ll tell her.”
Steve smiles but he knows he can't trust her word on this anymore. El has been saying the same thing for three weeks now. “If you haven’t done it by next week I will call her, I promise you that.”
El nods and hugs him again. They saty like that for a while until El pulls back and sits down opposite him again. “Can you do me a favour?”
Steve nods without thinking about it. Whatever El asks of him he's learned over the last few weeks that her requests are always reasonable and by now he agrees to them without wanting to hear what it is first. It's been the same thing every week anyways.
“Can you bring some flowers to Hopper? Tell him they’re from me?”
There are tears gathering in her eyes and Steve quickly gathers her in a hug again. He can feel his eyes burning with unshed tears as well but he holds them back for her sake. “Of course I will, I’ll do it tomorrow after school, yeah?”
El nods into his shoulder and sniffs before pulling back again. There is a small smile on her face when she thanks him and as always when she asks him this, he tells her it’s no problem.
They separate after a while of just enjoying each other’s company when El tells him that Joyce says it's time for her to go to bed. They hug each other one last time before Steve watches El leave, then he leaves the dark in-between space himself.
Steve pulls the blindfold off and blinks a few times to adjust to the light, then he turns off the radio and looks around his room. It's already dark outside and a glance at his watch tells him that it's already approaching half past ten. It's longer than Joyce lets them talk normally but maybe she's noticed that El needed the time to talk to him. Absentmindedly, Steve wipes the trail of blood from under his nose away.
Originally Joyce offered him to join her and her family in California but Steve declined. He can't leave the kids alone in Hawkins, scared that some new monster will burst out of the ground at a moments notice. And he wants to finish high school in Hawkins, as dumb as it sounds.
He's glad that he made this decision because while Hawkins keeps reminding him of all the things he continuously has nightmares about, he enjoys the time he gets to spent with the remaining members of the party. And with Robin and Eddie of course. And sometimes even Nancy when she isn't too busy with school and the school newspaper and college applications and everything else.
And it's better this way anyways, to give El some space to become her own person. And to visit Hopper’s grave for her. Someone needs to do it and it might as well be him, after all if Steve had been a bit more insistent and went down into the base with Hopper, Joyce and Murray, he might have been able to save Hopper. But he didn’t because Hopper had benched him and Steve hadn’t even tried to complain and now Hopper is dead.
Steve knows it's stupid to blame himself but he can't stop himself from doing exactly that. Just like he blames himself for not saving Billy from the Mindflayer, causing Max so much more pain than she should ever have to experience.