Chapter Text
Hawkins, Indiana November 1985
This Friday night in Hawkins is quiet and calm. That's what Steve described as he walked down that road, he was walking home from a party because his car was out of commission.
Steve wasn't in the best mood; he had just got dumped by his girlfriend and she poured beer all over him. He wasn't hurt, it wasn't like he was in love with her or anything.
He hasn't felt like he was in love with another girl after Nancy, it always hurts when he sees Nancy and Jonathan together. He didn't hate Jonathan or anything but ever since they moved back to Hawkins, they always were together.
The only good thing he got out of it was that he had two of his little nuggets back.
he didn't have anything to do today so he decided to just work on his car that was acting up
He was never all that great at working on cars, but he was decent, his father always forced him to work on cars with him for “son and father bonding time”.
To be honest it was mostly just him yelling at Steve for making every little mistake. The wind started to blow and made Steve shiver, being covered in beer during fall wasn't the best choice but he was almost home so it didn't matter.
Steve stepped into the silent, dark house.
His parents were on another one of the work trips so that means he's going to be alone for the whole month, in the depressing house with no one to talk to.
He made his way up the stairs and walked into his room and threw his jacket on the floor. Then he looked over at the vest Eddie gave him, he didn't bother giving it back.
He liked it, it made him feel safe and not so lonely. He walked into his bathroom and started to take off his clothes, he stood there for a minute to look at his scars.
He hated them, he felt that his body was weird and that he was gross. he always covered the scar on his neck, he hated that one the most. He turned on the shower and walked in.
After his shower he lay on his bed in a towel, not thinking about anything just lying there. After a while, he got up and changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
He walked over to Eddie's vest and picked it up, he brought it up to his chest and hugged it. I stood there for a couple of minutes thinking about Eddie and how they had not talked after saving the world and stuff. Steve thought about how Eddie's laugh made him feel butterflies, but it was normal he thought to himself.
He slowly made his way to his bed with the vest still in his hand, he laid down and cuddled with it. He eventually fell asleep with the vest up against his chest.
It was 11 am and Steve was outside working on his car, it didn't matter how cold it was, he still was sweating. He had a bandana on his forehead to keep the sweat out of his eyes. He was wearing old beat-up jeans with a slit-cropped striped shirt, he didn't want to get his nice clothes dirty.
He looked at his car for a while before he found the problem, he needed to get something from the auto shop. He took the bandana and put it in his back pocket, whipped it off his face, and fixed his hair.
He didn't think he needed to change because he didn't think anyone, he knew would be there at 11 in the morning.
He was right he didn't see anyone he knew there it was just an older gentleman, he looked about in his late 40s. He started a conversation with the man like he always did with older people. He was a people pleaser.
When he made his way out of the store, he started to feel hungry, so he made his way to the diner across the street. He ordered a large black coffee with one tablespoon of sugar and a bagel. He doesn't usually eat anything special.
On his way to the sidewalk, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to Eddie Munson, giving Steve a slight smile. "Hey Harrington, long time on see". That voice made Steve have goosebumps all down his back.
“Ya, hey Eddie what's up,” Steve said as he turned around to face Eddie. he had a wide grin plastered on his face
“Oh, nothing really... it's just um I have a question,” Eddie said looking Steve in the eyes.” I uh…” Eddie was never shy when talking to others but now he was stuttering Steve thought it was kinda cute.
Eddie wouldn't look away from Steve, so they held eye contact for a minute or two. That made Steve's heart flutter, he started to look down at his feet not wanting to look into his eyes any longer. Steve didn't like how it felt so he never looked Eddie in the eyes. His deep caramel eyes.
“Uh, what is Munson”.
“Are you flagging Harrington”?
Steve didn't know what Eddie had just said, he also didn't know what look he made on his face, but Munson just looked at Steve and gave a little chuckle. Was this a little joke that he didn't understand?
“Haha never minds". Eddie scratched the back of his neck.
“Wait, what's flagging”? That question made eddies smile get bigger. “oh, your sweet innocent soul, it's nothing, don't worry about its Harrington” that comment only made Steve more curious.
“Wait, that does that mean, tell me, Munson,” Steve said in his babysitting tone. He had never really used it on Eddie before. so, when Eddie heard that kind of tone come from Steve, he just stood there and looked Steve up and down until he bit his lip. unholy though started to fill his mind.
” Oh, Harrington are you sure”. “Ya…yes totally, now what does it mean?” Steve asked again, this time getting very impatient.
” Well…. I don't know, just take the bandana out from your back pocket, someone will get the wrong idea, just don't leave it like that”. Eddie smirked at Steve. Steve took the bandana out from his pocket quickly wondering if Eddie was making an inappropriate joke that made no sense to him
“What does my bandana have to do with things” Steve started to stare at Eddie's lips, his smile made Steve go crazy. Then he quickly snapped out of his train of thoughts.
“Munson, I'm not going to ask again what you mean by flagging and what my bandana plays in that role,” Steve asked again. Eddie gave a conspiratorial glance to steve.
Eddie leaned in and whispered into his ear “you'll find out eventually". Steve felt Eddie's breath brush against his skin, Eddie just loved getting into other's personal space.
“Anyways, do you need a ride?” Steve still wanted to know what Eddie meant by ‘you'll find out eventually'. but in the meantime, I might as well get a free ride. Steve thought.” Ya sure”.
******
After Steve got home, he went into the kitchen to get some food. the silence of the house was normal for him. for most people the quietness would kill for some quietness in their house, but it hurt Steve he always felt alone.
His parents stopped caring for him a long time ago, the only thing they do for him is leave him money for food, most of the time he finds himself short on money. That helped him out to be a really good cook.
He took a set at the dining table that had dust forming on it because it had been ages since he had used it. Thoughts started to fill his mind, what was Eddie talking about, what's flagging, why won't he just tell me what it means?
He soon quit thinking about the stupid questions that here floating everywhere around Steve. He thought he would just ask Robin about it the next time he saw her. Robin was friends with Eddie so Steve knew Robin would have maybe the tiniest clue about what he was talking about.
Steve made his way to his bathroom after he got done fixing his car. That took him about 3 hours so by the time Steve got into the shower it was two in the evening. He didn't have anything planned for the day so he thought he would just stay inside and listen to music.
He changed into his usual clothes, a pastel orange sweater, and a pair of loose-fitting jeans. Nothing special. He walked over to his table and scanned through his music.
until his eyes made their way to something that Steve hadn't seen in a while. It was a mixtape that everyone put their favorite song in. Steve felt a smile form on his face, he loved his friends even when they were annoying.
He didn't know what he would do without them. They made his world turn, and even though that's the cheesiest thing to say he still thought that.
Just as he was thinking about his friends the phone rang from downstairs. It made Steve jump a little from the sudden sound but then he put the mixtape on his bed and made his way to the phone.
“Herrington household, Steve speaking” Steve always said that when he answered the phone when he was home. It was something his father and mother made him do and it just stuck with him.
“Ew, Steve, that's the cheesiest shit I've ever heard”. Dustin hissed on the other side of the phone. Steve could hear other voices murdering in the background but couldn't entirely set much in the voices.
“What the hell do you want, Henderson?” Steve says as he puts his left hand on his hip with the phone still held up to his ear.
“Ok, so I know this is last minute, and I'm sorry. I'll own you big time if you do this for me…'' Steve cuts him off “whatever it is Dustin spit it out now we don't have all day”.
“We need a place to hold our campaign for DnD and you're the only place free so...” the kid begs.
Steve groans as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He didn't feel like babysitting today, but he couldn't say no to Dustin when he begs so he finally gives in. “Fine, Dustin, you can host your nerd shit”.
“Really omg Steve, I own you big time” Steve just stood there listening to Dustin thank him. “Ok Henderson what time are you and the others coming over”
“Around 5 if that's fine with you…and can we also maybe spend the night '' Dustin speaks up, “Ya that's fine by me little dude only if yall call your parents before bed”.
“Yep thanks” and with that, he hung up the phone.