Author's Note: Hi! This chapter is where Steve the kids have a bit of a role reversal, so that's the title I chose! It may not make sense now, but you'll see! 7 is my favorite number, and this might be my favorite chapter so far! Coincidence? I think not. Anyway, enjoy Chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Role Reversal

Wednesday, May 19, 1985

Harrington Household

It's been 4 days since the night Steve's dad went to jail, and it hasn't been easy. Max's fever finally broke that Monday, but she still hasn't been feeling 100%.

Luckily, she woke up this morning feeling like a new girl. Her sinuses were clearer, her throat was no longer on fire, and her head wasn't pounding to the beat of her heart. Max couldn't contain her joy and decided to express it through breakfast.

Steve wasn't up yet, which was a little weird, since the two went to bed at a reasonable hour last night, but they had gotten a call from both the middle and high school saying school was out for a couple days due to the rising temperatures. Both school's air conditioning broke, so it was just too hot to concentrate on anything. Thank goodness they had a ton of unused snow days.

Max chalked it up to Steve getting a little extra much needed sleep, which is hard to get after you fight a bunch of multidimensional monsters. Nightmares aren't something new to the group of kids who went through so much.

Max had one specialty: Pancakes. And she knew that Pancake napping right next to the stove was a sign. A calling to make the classic breakfast food. She immediately got to work. She hummed as she whipped the milk and eggs with the pancake mix. She knew how to make pancakes from scratch, but if a mix was available to her, why make the job harder?

Max was done around 10:30, which only took that long because she spent 20 minutes trying to find a pan. Steve still hadn't come down for breakfast, and now Max was getting worried. Steve had taken care of her the entire time she was sick, and like he said, he had a lousy immune system, so the possibilities of him catching it were pretty good.

Max quietly crept up the stairs, making her way to Steve's bedroom. She found the teen curled up in a ball, whimpering in his sleep. Nightmare, Max thought. It wasn't long before Steve's whimpers turned into words.

"No, please! Stop! Leave her alone! It wasn't her fault! Leave Max alone! Max!" Steve cried. Max's heart broke when she heard her name. Enough was enough. Time for Steve to wake up.

"Steve, it's ok! I'm ok! It's just a nightmare! Wake up!" Max said with worry laced in her voice. "I'm sorry! It's my fault. Don't kill her. Kill me. Kill me!" Steve continued to yell. "Steve! Wake up!" Max yelled this time, and Steve shot up into a sitting position, hyperventilating while doing so.

"Steve! Steve! It's ok! I'm here! You're ok! It was just a nightmare," Max said quickly, trying to calm the teen down. Steve just roughly wiped some stray tears and looked Max in the eyes, fear clouding both of them. "S-sorry. I don't know what came over me," Steve said softly. Max wrapped her arms around Steve, hugging him for dear life.

"I made breakfast, and Will and Mike were wondering if we could host a movie night tonight," Max said while still hugging Steve. "No Dustin?" He asked, still feeling guilty about the fight they had last Friday. "No. My cold finally caught up with him a few days ago. Lucas is down too, and El is having dinner with Hopper and Joyce," Max replied, finally letting Steve go.

"Well, as long as you're up for it," Steve said worriedly. "Trust me, I feel like a new person," Max beamed. Steve knew she was being honest. Max was not normally this happy. Obviously she was back to her old self.

"Are you sure you're up for it? You're not congested or nauseous at all?" Max asked. She was being genuine. She didn't want Steve babysitting if he wasn't feeling well. He'd done it a couple of times before, and sometimes it would all be fine. He would just pass out on a couch and hibernate for a few hours. But sometimes, it got really bad. These were the times he'd babysit with a fever, causing him to throw up or collapse while making Eggos for the kids.

"I'm fine, Max. Trust me," Steve said casually. While he still seemed tired, there wasn't anything else noticeably wrong with him, so Max figured if he did get sick, at least she could just drag him up to his room and force him to rest. Wow, she sounded like her mom.

"If you're sure. I'll go call the boys!" she said practically skipping down the stairs. Steve decided 10:45 was a good time to finally eat, he'd just pick up a pizza later. As he dragged himself out of his bed and into the kitchen, he realized he was starving. The day went by slowly after Max and Steve devoured their pancakes. Pancake impressed them with a new trick: when someone sneezes, he'll grab a tissue box and bring it to someone.

This happened when the three were just hanging in the living room and Steve felt a small tickle in his nose. He emphasized to Max the fact that it was "just one sneeze" and that movie night was still a go, despite her protests. Max was a bit skeptical at first, but had to admit it was just one sneeze. Not really enough to cancel movie night.

By 7:30, however, Steve had to admit that he felt a little bit sick. Just a stuffy nose, some exhaustion, a small cough. Still, he didn't have a fever, so he just did his best to hide it when Will and Mike showed up. Steve and Max introduced the boys to Pancake, who literally tackled Mike, licking him all over, when Steve opened the door. The group ate some pizza, and the kids had begged Steve to let them watch Jaws for months, saying Hopper and El had already seen it. Twice. He figured they were all thirteen, and he was technically an adult, so that night, the three kids sat in his living room watching "the scariest movie of the decade", as Hopper would call it, as he passed out with Pancake right next to him.

Mike was pretty much laying on the teen that was in a little ball on the couch, and he suddenly started sweating, and he had no idea why. The A.C. was working fine, he didn't have any blankets, he was clueless until he heard whimpering coming from the sleeping teenager.

"No, stop. Leave them alone! It's not their fault. Don't kill them! Kill me! Kill me! No!" Steve wasn't yelling like he was this morning, in fact, Mike was the only one who could hear him, but the things he said made Mike worry. "Dustin! No! I'm sorry! Max! Will! Lucas! Mike! Stop! Leave them alone! No!" Steve whimpered.

"Guys, pause the movie! Something's wrong!" Mike exclaimed worriedly. Max paused the movie and her and Will moved near Steve's head. He kept repeating their names, occasionally throwing in Nancy, Joyce, Hopper, he even said Jonathan once, saying he killed them, or for whatever was making him so terrified to leave them alone. Max and Mike were trying desperately to wake Steve up, meanwhile Will noticed the heat radiating off of him. He put his hand to the teenager's forehead, and sure enough, he was burning up.

"Uh, guys, I don't want to make things worse, but I think we have another problem," Will said nervously. Pancake started barking and licking Steve's face. That's when Steve shot up, hyperventilating with wide eyes.

"Steve! It's ok! Everyone is fine. It was just a dream," Mike said softly. Steve looked around the room, seeing Jaws on the TV screen and the kids surrounding him, before sighing, bringing on a coughing fit he'd been suppressing all night.

"Dang it Steve! You told me you were fine!" Max yelled. Everyone else winced at her volume. Steve because of his newborn headache, and Will and Mike because they had all been whispering for a half hour.

"Sorry," Max whispered. "Me too. From what I've heard, this cold is super contagious," Steve said, his voice hoarse. "Not to people who've already had it. We're all safe," Will said in a matter-of-factly way. "But seriously dude, you can't keep doing this. You can't babysit if you're sick. We'll understand. You need to take care of yourself," Mike said, with a weird tone. He'd never admit it, but the teenager started growing on him. No one expected those words to come from his mouth. Dustin, totally, but not him.

Steve smiled a bit, despite feeling a little like death. "Alright, little Wheeler. I'll try. But either way, I should get you guys home," Steve said as he tried to stand up. "No way! We're staying here," Mike replied. "The boys are right. We can't catch your cold, and you should not be driving in this condition," Max stated firmly. "We'll call our moms. It's no big deal," Will piped in, already making a start for the phone.

Steve had another coughing fit. His coughs were deep and wet and had a bit of a rattle to them. Once the fit had subsided, he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"You're lucky I feel way too sick to argue."