Steve is late to first period.
He didn't mean to. Well, he did actively choose to be late but it's for a good cause. He'd take being tardy if it means one of his kids got to school on time. One of his kids. Huh. Where did that come from? That better not awaken anything in him.
He enters the classroom and, thankfully, the teacher didn't care he was late. It kind of implies that he's such a fuck-up that the teacher doesn't care anymore but whatever. He just wants to get through the day. That's his entire plan for the school year. Just get through graduation and... TBD. He'll work on TBD when it gets here. He gets to seat and take notes.
He went to his other classes, took notes, and tried to pay attention. The day was pretty uneventful until lunch. Two ghosts of assholes past run up to him at the cafeteria, Tommy and Carol. He's not necessarily avoiding the two, he just doesn't have high hopes for any interaction between his former friends to be anything but pleasant.
The days after the first Upside Down incident the three of them had made up. Steve apologized for calling them assholes and they accepted that apology. They didn't regret calling Nancy a slut because in their mind they were just protecting Steve. He can understand that, in a way. But then one shitty party later, he started seeing things that he may have ignored in the past. For some reason, he can't keep ignoring them. The way Tommy and Carol treated people was not good. They can rationalize themselves as good but they're toxic. The fame, the money, the attitude. It's too much. At that point, even if Nancy won't have him back, Steve decided he'd rather be alone than toxic.
Joke's on them, that's exactly what he is now.
"Ooh, Stevey, I heard Billy did a number on you. Your face looks wrecked but at least your hair remains untouched,", Carol says running her hands through his hair.
A classic Carol flirtasult – part flirtation, part insult. She invented them but Steve coined it. That was an explainabrag. She must've missed the stitch the nurse had to make because of the plate because she didn't mention it when she ran his hands through his hair.
"Geez, Steve. You couldn't take on that creep Byers and you tried to fight Billy? What kind of idiot are you?" Tommy asks with none of the subtlety of Carol.
"The kind that's done with this conversation. Tommy, Carol. Always a pleasure," Steve says dismissively as he tries to walk past the two. See? Never pleasant. Maybe he should've eaten in his car. He hadn't even walked past the two when he spots Billy walking up to him with a sneer that just screams like he's overcompensating for something.
"Going somewhere, Harrington?" Billy asks mockingly.
Billy's trying to start shit and Steve still remembers what Billy did to Max this morning and it took everything in his power to just not give him what he wants and oblige him for round two. It would've made him feel so much better (until he gets ass kicked) but it wouldn't help Max and it wouldn't have helped his 'just get through graduation' plan.
"Yeah, over there where the IQ is above room temperature," Steve quips while nodding his head to point somewhere and trying to walk past the three. Billy blocks him.
"You have a smart mouth, Harrington."
"You think so? I'll ask my mouth to tutor my brain then. Have to get that GPA up, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah. Maybe I should shut it for you?" Billy asks and he looks ready to fight.
Steve can feel eyes on him. It's almost as if the entire cafeteria is looking at them. The old king vs the new king. Who gives a shit? Steve hasn't been interested in being king since he decided to be not toxic. Then again, if Billy throws the first punch Steve won't get in trouble for defending himself. He's free to take out his anger over this morning on him plus the rematch he's waiting for. It's an intriguing thought he entertained before he feels a hand pull his wrist away from the brewing fight.
"C'mon, Steve. We're over here," Nancy says with a smile pretending to be oblivious.
Steve let himself be led away. He was about to do something stupid. Nancy Wheeler is a godsend.
"You can't keep hiding behind women, Harrington," Billy yells out as they walk away from him.
Steve was about to open his mouth with a retort but Nancy shoots him a look that just says 'Please, don't.' and, for whatever reason, he listens to her and closes his mouth shut. She leads him to a corner where Jonathan is sitting. Great, he's having lunch with his ex and her new boyfriend. Yipee. A fight he would've lost doesn't seem so bad now.
He gives Jonathan a small wave before sitting down.
"Thanks for the save there, Nance. I was about to do something stupid," Steve says not really looking at Nancy or Jonathan. He's taking his time getting his lunch out of his bag.
"Is this about the other day?"
"Is this about this morning?"
Nancy asks the first question while Jonathan asks the latter. The questions came out at the same time.
The simultaneous question made his head look at the two. Confused about how Nancy knows about the other day and how Jonathan knows about what happened this morning.
"What do you mean what happened the other day?" Jonathan asks Nancy.
"When I went to get our homework, I overheard some people talking that Steve was about to fight Billy in the parking lot over some middle school girl," Nancy explains.
"There's gotta be a better way to phrase that," Steve says thinking about where that rumor might end up going.
"No, no! That's now what I meant. If anything, they said you were defending the kid." Nancy quickly clarifies.
Steve nods. That's slightly better. He thinks.
"Wait, what happened this morning?" Nancy asks looking between her boyfriend and her ex.
Steve doesn't really want to answer. It's not his story to tell. Also, how did Jonathan even know about it?
"I saw Steve this morning, leave school right before first period was about to start," Jonathan says speaking to Nancy then looked at Steve to continue.
"Then I saw you drive that red-haired girl from the other day to the high school parking lot. You even got her things from Billy's car. That's her sister, right? Is that why he's mad?" Jonathan asks him now.
Oh, so that's why he knows. He sees Nancy and Jonathan look at him waiting for an answer. He doesn't think Billy knows about this morning but he doesn't really want to answer to respect Max's privacy. He doesn't want to spook her so he decided to deflect.
"Who knows? He decided to beat up a bunch of kids. He's not really the shining example of mental health, you know? His ego's probably still bruised looking for a win in front of an audience." Steve offers.
Jonathan nods while Nancy ponders. She has that look like she's putting pieces together. It's kind of cute actually. Wait, no not cute. She has a boyfriend and he's sitting in front of you. Somewhere between that explanation and them eating lunch quietly an atmosphere of silence seemed to cover them.
The two lovebirds are too awkward to interact with Steve there while Steve is equally unwilling to talk to the two. But Steve Harrington can't take the silence. He got too much of it at his house so he breaks it.
"How's, uh, Will holding up?" Steve asks Jonathan.
"Uh, yeah, he's good," Jonathan answers like he was caught surprised by the question, "He's still tired so he's staying home. No longer feel cold though. And no more memory lapses. Mom thinks he can start school again next week."
"That's good. Dustin and Lucas mentioned coming they came from Will's when they handed me homework. Thanks for that by the way," he says to Nancy and Jonathan offering them both a smile. The kids say it's from Nancy but he's pretty sure Jonathan helped as well.
He got a smile back from the two. They continue to eat lunch. The silence wasn't as awkward as before. It's almost comfortable. Almost. They didn't really have anything to talk about after that. They can feel each other trying to bring up a topic to talk about but it dies before getting out their mouth and they just resume eating.
The bell rings and they said their goodbyes. The rest of the day passed uneventfully. No near-fights or douchebags anywhere. There's a surprise waiting for him by his car and it's hard to miss four people waiting by it.
"I didn't tell them to come. They just won't leave," Max says pre-emptively looking at the ground not meeting his eyes. Afraid that Steve would yell at her. That he would turn into Billy.
"Now you know how I feel," Steve quips hoping that puts Max at ease. It does that get an eye roll and a laugh out of her.
"Steve! You've been giving Max rides!? You've known us longer and we don't get rides!" Dustin asks wildly flapping his arms. Max looks down again blushing this time.
"A) Technically I gave you a ride when you dragged me from the Wheeler's to look for Dart and B) I've known 'of you' longer but I only knew you half an hour longer than I did Max or Lucas. Technically, I've known Mike longest and he does not want a ride," Steve points out in amusement.
"Not necessarily true," Lucas starts to talk, "See, we were planning to visit Will like we did yesterday but Max said she had to talk to Billy first and then she'll catch up with us but when we followed her she was waiting by your car so we asked her what's up and then —"
"Okay, you obviously drew the short straw, Sinclair so I'll put you out of your misery. You guys want a ride to the Byers, yeah?" Steve asks.
The three boys nod while Max looked at him with a neutral expression. He gives Max a small nod and she relaxes.
"You know I'm not a taxi service, right?" Steve asks pointedly. He has to put up a little fight before saying yes. This remark earned him exasperated noises from the boys while Max is at the back with a knowing smile.
"Okay, okay! Fine! What about your sister, Wheeler?" Steve asks before he gets charged with kidnapping.
"I can leave her a note. She has some afterschool activities that took forever yesterday and we had to wait for her," Mike says evenly. He wasn't overly excited like Dustin or worried like Lucas or Max. Wow, he does know Mike longer but it doesn't feel like it.
"Not that I don't trust you but, Lucas?" Steve asks looking at the boy, "Can you make sure Mike leaves a note that Nancy will see and not assume that Mike got kidnapped?" This earned him an eye roll from Mike and a salute from Lucas.
"I call shotgun!" Dustin runs to the passenger seat with an energy that can only be described as manic while Max rolls her eyes getting in the backseat. Lucas and Mike make it back to the car shortly after and they were off to the Byers.
Not a bad way to end the day.