Chapter 9
'It hurts more than I thought', Steve thought as he drove away from school. He slowly started to come back to his senses after the fight with Billy. 'I have to go see Jonathan, tell him what happened'. Their last exchange yesterday evening had been kind of weird. Steve had dropped Jonathan off at home after their hospital visit. He felt like they were really starting to connect. But as they got closer to the Byers residence, Jonathan started to crawl back into his shell. Steve had offered to walk Jonathan to the front door, but he had frantically refused. He really didn't want Steve to come in. It was like he was hiding something. Steve hit the brakes and put his car in the grass. He had reached Jonathan's home.
''Oh my God! What happened to you?'' Steve was greeted at the door by small, slender brunette who looked at him in shock.
'That must be Jonathan's mom', Steve thought to himself. 'He looks quite like her.'
''Hello Mrs. Byers'', Steve greeted as lightheartedly as possible. ''My name is Steve Harrington. I'm a…friend of Jonathan's'', he improvised. Were they even friends? ''I got into a bit of a fight this afternoon, but it's not a big deal really. Is Jonathan home?''
''He is, actually. Since you are his friend, do you know what happened to him yesterday? He came home last night with a broken arm and nose and he won't tell me anything. It's like I don't even know what's going on in his life anymore.'' Joyce's voice had broken.
'That poor woman', Steve thought. 'It must break her heart, not knowing what's going on with her son.'
''I do know what happened, in fact. But'', he continued, ''I'm afraid it's not up to me to tell. I wouldn't want to betray Jonathan's trust like that, by going behind his back.'' He put his hand on Joyce's arm. ''But I'll try to convince him to open up to you.''
Joyce wiped her tears. ''Thank you'', she said in a soft voice. ''He's in his bedroom. Up the stairs, second door to the right.''
Jonathan heard three knocks on his door. ''Since when do you knock, mom? Normally you just walk right in.'' The door opened slowly. Jonathan's eyes widened in shock as he realized who was standing behind it. ''St-teve…what are you doing here? And what happened to you?''
Steve grinned. ''Billy happened to me.'' As he saw the look of horror on Jonathan's face, he quickly continued: ''don't worry, I got him even better than he got me. You will never have to worry about him bothering you again.'' He looked around the room. It was messy; there were clothes all over the floor. On the wall were posters of The Clash and Evil Dead. ''Can I sit down?'' Jonathan nodded. ''You can sit here on the bed'', he said as he moved aside to make room. Steve sat down next to Jonathan. Both boys blushed as they realized how close to each other they were.
''I came here today to apologize'', Steve began.
''You've got nothing to-''
''No, in fact, I do'', Steve interrupted. ''And I'm going to.'' He cleared his throat, unsure of how to continue. ''For years, I have put you through all sorts of abuse. I've beaten you, mocked you, and humiliated you. And I'm really, really sorry for that. I was a coward. My father…he puts so much pressure on me. I have to be the perfect son. I have to be the one that succeeds him. At school I needed to escape the pressure. And I did that by taking it out on you. And for so long, I didn't see any problem with that. Breaking your camera, even taking your towel off…'' Tears started welling up in Steve's eyes. ''I thought everything worked perfectly. I got to blow off steam and my father was still proud of me. I didn't think at all about how you felt. All I cared about was my father's opinion, my future.'' He looked directly at Jonathan. ''But that was before I got to know you. Before I realized what a beautiful person you are.'' Steve paused for a moment. ''Today Billy was waiting for me in the parking lot. He was furious that I had told the school nurse that he caused your injuries and got him suspended. He wanted to put me in the hospital, like he did to you.'' Steve looked at Jonathan. ''You know how strong he is, much stronger than me. And he was winning. He had me on the floor and he was punching my face and I thought I was going to die right then and there. But then I thought of you. I thought of what he did to you in that bathroom stall and it made me so angry, so incredibly angry. And all that anger balling up inside me just gave me so much strength. It was exactly what I needed to get back into the fight. So I pushed him over and I just kept punching him. I didn't even know what I was doing anymore. Until I came back to my senses and saw that I had won. I had actually won a fight against Billy. And it was all because of you.''
Jonathan blushed. He couldn't believe this was really happening. Steve Harrington actually cared about him. Steve Harrington won a fight for him! He turned towards the other boy. ''Thank you, that means a lot to me.'' He looked at Steve's face. ''Though I have to say'', he grinned, ''you look absolutely terrible''.
Steve mockingly acted insulted. ''Well look who's talking. You're not looking all that pretty yourself.'' Both boys laughed at their shared physical state.
''Let me at least get a cloth to remove the blood for you'', Jonathan said, serious again. ''You did the same for me.''
Steve nodded and Jonathan quickly returned with clean cloth. ''Here, let me get that'', Jonathan said softly as leaned closely over Steve and carefully blotted the blood on Steve's face. Steve couldn't take it anymore. Jonathan, beautiful Jonathan, standing so close to him. Touching him even! He couldn't control himself any longer. He grabbed Jonathan by the hips and pulled him on his lap.
Jonathan turned bright red. ''W-what are you doing?''
Steve looked Jonathan in the eyes. ''Kissing you'', he said softly. ''If…if that's okay with you?''
Jonathan nodded shyly. For years he had been dreaming that this moment would come.
Steve leaned in closer and pressed his lips against Jonathans'. Carefully he pushed his tongue in the other boy's mouth. He grew more confident as he felt Jonathan submitting to his movements. His movements became more frantic and before he knew it he had slipped a hand underneath Jonathan's shirt.
Jonathan froze as he felt his lover's fingers caressing the scars on his back. Steve immediately stopped as he felt Jonathan's tense response to his touching. ''I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that.''
Jonathan stared at the floor in shame. ''No, it's not your fault. It's mine. I'm the one who reacts so strangely. I completely understand if you don't have the patience to deal with me and my weird hang-ups.'' He stood up from Steve's lap.
Steve immediately pulled him back. ''What are you talking about? I want you, only you. And I have all the patience in the world with you.'' He shot Jonathan a sly grin. '' We could even wait 'till marriage if you want to.''
Jonathan smiled back shyly. ''Are you really sure?''
''More sure than I've ever been about anything in my life.'' Steve paused for a moment. ''Those scars on your back…I've noticed them before in the locker room. How did you get them?'' As he saw Jonathan's face darken, he hastened to add: ''you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.''
