Steve hangs his coat on the back of a chair in the shelter. Having spent most of his night driving around with slushies and metal music blasting through his speakers, he hasn't had a minute of sleep. Perturbed by the heated argument with his parents and his discovery under Eddie's pillow, he suffers a lasting headache, exhausted from thinking about so many things at once and fearing that he ruined his friendship with Eddie.
His eyes scan the hall in search of a familiar face. On the other side, Max and Dustin are sitting against the wall, laughing together. With a grin, Steve picks up a tray and asks Rosie, one of the volunteers, if he can bring his younger friends their breakfasts. Rosie nods places two sandwiches and two glasses of orange juice on the tray with napkins. Then, she buries her hand in the pocket of her apron and puts down four pieces of candy with a wink.
Crossing the hall, balancing the tray against his stomach, Steve greets some of the other children he got to know through his volunteering at the breakfast table. Around the middle rows of cots, he finds Eddie, freshly dried off from his shower. The young man slips his hands through his Hellfire Club t-shirt and then his head, covering his chest and his navel, below which a thicker line of hair traces down under his jeans. Steve gulps and turns to meet him with anticipation, trying to dissimulate his shaking.
"Good morning, Eddie!" he greets him in a more cheerful tone than he thought he could produce. "Did you sleep well?"
"Did you even leave last night?"
Steve's smile fades instantly. He can't seem to grasp why Eddie's acting distant all of a sudden. Friday was a lovely, even if there was some awkwardness on Saturday morning for sure. Tucking the tray against his waist, he picks up one of the candies given by Rosie and hands it to his friend.
"For later. A sort of good luck present for your test."
Eddie stares at his hand, with a hint of fear crossing his face. With a sigh, he picks it up, carefully avoiding any contact with Steve's fingers.
"Thanks. Rosie's?"
"Yeah."
He buries it in his pocket and grabs his leather jacket, sliding his arms into the sleeves. The collar raises up to his neck, covering his long curls. Steve refrains from running his hand through them to free his hair from it, not wanting to make things even worse. After all, Eddie doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with him.
Flashes of the book under his pillow cross his mind. With a blush, he extends his hand as Eddie struggles to put his vest on, but pulls it away immediately, holding on to the tray instead.
"Eddie, you know that you can tell me everything, right? I won't judge you."
"Cool?"
Steve sighs and tilts his hip.
"Why are you like this?"
"Like what?"
"Cold. Distant. Are you sure that it's not about Friday?"
"I'm sure."
"Then what is it?"
Eddie grabs his lunchbox and walks past him, heading straight towards the exit. Steve watches him leave, each of his steps like a stab to his heart. Regaining his composure, he goes to find Dustin and Max against the wall, setting the tray down on the floor before sitting down in front of them.
"Room service," he chuckles. "How are you, guys?"
"Good," Max grins. "Our first period's been canceled."
"I see."
"Thanks for bringing breakfast," Dustin exclaims, immediately grabbing the sandwich and the candy, until Steve's hand closes around his.
"Hey, dude, that's rude," he comments. "Leave the candy for Max."
"It's okay, I won't eat them."
"Yes!"
Dustin cackles and gathers all the little silver-wrapped mints, shoving them into his backpack with a victorious grin. He and Max unfold the foil around the sandwiches and take a bite into the bread, chewing in silence. Steve smiles at the two of them, glad that one of his actions made someone happy.
"How's it going with you, Harrington?" Dustin asks with his mouth full. "Haven't seen you in a while."
"Sorry, I don't have much time between work and volunteering," he answers. "But I'm good. Trying to figure stuff out."
"Like what?"
"Like what the fuck's wrong with Eddie."
"Oh, you noticed too?"
Steve whips his head around to face the younger boy, licking his fingers covered with spilt peanut butter.
"Has he said anything?"
"No," Dustin shrugs. "He's been weird since Saturday. I guess he's worried about graduating, he really wants to get outta here."
"I've got my idea," Max intervenes, her eyes fixed on her orange juice. "But you won't hear it from me. It's just speculating."
"Thanks for your intervention," Steve replies sarcastically with a shake of his head.
Max and Dustin finish their sandwiches and wipe their mouths with the clean napkins, wrapping them around their fingers as well before throwing them onto the tray.
"Wait, wasn't Eddie with you on Friday night?" Dustin asks.
"Yeah. I brought him back on Saturday."
"I don't know, did you say something bad there? I mean, you're not really known for your tactfulness. You can be too direct, sometimes."
"Did I ask for you to roast me this morning? Geez, dude."
Dustin cocks an eyebrow at him, silencing him in an instant. Steve nods, amusing Max, who laughs, drawing his attention to her.
"Don't worry, Steve. You know he's been through a lot. We all have."
"I know, but it's like he switched."
"I bet it's nothing," she insists, wrapping her fingers around the handle of her backpack. "Sorry, we have to go. Mike and Lucas must be waiting for us outside the classroom by now."
"Of course. Have a good day, guys. Be good."
"Yes, mom," Dustin scoffs, hauling himself up and leaving with Max by his side.
Steve picks up the tray and stands up, wiping the dust off the back of his jeans. As he returns to the breakfast table to dispose of everything, he finds Robin, picking up the clothes meant to be sent to the washateria. He wipes everything off the tray and places the plate and glasses on their respective piles, thanking Rosie for her help as she tidies up the bags of bread.
He trots up to Robin, gathering the socks and shirts dropping from the heavy load she's carrying. She notices him and sighs with relief, glad to get help. Steve takes some weight off the pile, walking with her to the container.
"You never take a day off, do you?" she teases.
"Nope. Especially not when my parents are home."
"You fought with your dad again?"
"Yeah."
"What for, this time?"
Steve scoffs and releases the laundry into the container, waving at the washateria employee standing next to it, waiting for them to bring everything over. They head back towards another pile.
"I told my folks I wanted to move to Boston."
"Boston?" Robin repeats incredulously. "Wait… Are you following Nance to Emerson? Are you two back together?"
"No. But I don't know, I need out. I want to be away from Hawkins."
"Away from all of us, you mean!"
Steve laughs and wraps an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her against him.
"Of course not. If I go, I'm going to miss the lot of you terribly."
"I know. We're special like that."
They smile at each other and busy themselves with more laundry, picking each bag up and groaning when they find some of them still open and spilling their contents onto the floor.
"But what did your parents say?" Robin asks while checking the name on the label of a t-shirt mixed up with someone else's jeans and finding the correct bag.
"No, obviously. They think I'm irresponsible and too childish to live on my own."
"But you've basically been living on your own for years."
"That's what I told them, but they refuse to listen. But I don't care about they say, really. I'm going anyway. I'm going to make a few calls there and hopefully in September I'll be away from Hawkins."
"You won't be a stranger, will you?"
While the corners of her mouth are raised into a smirk, he discerns genuine fear in her tone. A crack, one she hardly notices herself. He kisses her forehead and shakes his head.
"Never."
"Good."
They bring the bags over to the container, followed by another volunteer carrying the last ones. They drop them into the container, dusting their hands clean as they pivot towards the tables. Before he can make another step, Robin sticks her finger against his chest, stopping him in his tracks.
"You go home, Harrington," she scolds. "The bags under your eyes are even bigger than the laundry bags. Go sleep."
"Nah, I'll be fine."
"If you don't go, then I'm afraid I'll have to shove you there myself."
"It's okay, I—"
"I'll drive your car."
Steve closes his mouth at the threat and chuckles from the adorable expression on her face. In moments like these, he remembers why he fell for Robin in the first place before she came out to him. Never has he ever regretted having her in his life. Sometimes, he realizes how he couldn't survive some days if he didn't have her with him. Her sense of humor, her cutting remarks, her quirkiness… Robin's the best friend he could ever have besides Dustin.
Or Eddie.
He grins and rests his hands on his hips, tilting them with an eyebrow raised.
"Okay. I'll go. But hey, Henderson couldn't tell me more about it, but do you know if Eddie's okay?"
"What? Why?"
Rosy hues flush onto her cheeks, making her freckles stand out. He ignores her reaction, much too focused on finding out why Eddie was behaving the way he did.
"Eddie's been super distant. Like, he doesn't want anything to do with me. He's pushing me away, I just don't get it."
"Something happened on Friday you didn't tell me about?" she insists with the hint of a smirk.
"No?"
"You sure?"
He rolls his eyes and sighs.
"He told you?"
"About what?" she says, feigning ignorance.
"C'mon, Robs. He told you about the sleepover?"
"Maybe."
"Fuck."
He walks over to the changing rooms with Robin in tow to wash his hands. She imitates him, noticing something gooey on her fingertip. While they rub their fingers with soap under the running water.
"So it has something to do with Friday."
"Well, I don't know, what do you think happened?"
Steve remains silent and shrugs. Robin nudges him, insisting to hear his side of the story.
"Okay," he groans, keeping his hands under the water despite having already cleaned them. He throws glances around them, ensuring that nobody would hear, then leans closer to him. "Eddie cried when he was at my place. I don't know why. He told me that now that he was really on his own with his own bed, everything spilled out, but I don't believe him. Something's off."
"So what did you do?"
"I invited him to my room, in case he didn't want to be on his own. I wanted to talk with him, but he fell asleep right away. I don't know what happened in my head, but I hugged him. And I think we just cuddled all night. I woke up spooning him."
Robin laughs, bringing her hand above her mouth.
"If you weren't super into Nancy, I could swear you have a crush on Eddie."
"I don't," he says a bit too abruptly for his own taste, trying to laugh it off.
"I know. Now, go home and sleep, dingus."
He pulls his tongue at her and hugs her before running up to his coat, having fallen from the chair he rested it on. Without taking the time to slip in on, he rushes to his car and drives home.
As he pulls up in his driveway, a feminine silhouette draws itself at his doorstep, patiently waiting for someone to open. His cranes his neck to check if his parents' cars are gone and finds the driveway completely empty. He stops the car and jumps out, twirling his keys around his finger.
The woman turns to him with a pouty smile, a glimmer appearing in her large blue eyes. Steve stops at her sight, grinning in turn.
"Nance? What are you doing here?"
"Thank God you're here!" she exclaims cheerfully. She trots up to him, her cheekbones turned red by excitement. "I'm sorry I came here, you're the first one I thought about when I wanted to tell someone, so I came here, I hope you don't mind."
"Is everything okay?"
Nancy nods, bringing her eyes to his polo shirt. With the tip of her nails, she removes a piece of lint stuck behind one of the buttons, making his heart race. He hopes that she doesn't feel it as her other fingers gently press his chest.
"I sent my final application to Emerson. It's happening."
"I'm proud of you, Nance," he whispers, squeezing her arm. "Glad you made that step for yourself!"
"Thank you for the advice, Steve. I think that if you hadn't come to my place and insisted that I should still go, I wouldn't have done it."
He grins and draws in a sharp breath, boiling to tell her about his plan.
"I was thinking about moving to Boston too. I want to get out of Hawkins and Boston sounds like a good place to start."
"Really?" she chimes. "Are your parents okay with it?"
"No, definitely not," he laughs. "We got into a big fight with my dad yesterday evening, I didn't come back last night."
"Oh? Where were you?"
"I just drove around to calm my nerves. But I'm better now. Although I'm dreading the moment he comes back from work."
He proceeds to tell her about his parents' reasons to refuse, omitting the part where his father nearly hit him. He doesn't want her to worry for him, especially after a tough breakup and the stress of finals coming up.
"That's horrible, Steve," she replies, flabbergasted. "I don't understand how they can't see that you've grown so much."
"Me neither. I gave them clear examples, but they rejected everything I said."
Something warm touches his hand, startling him at first. His eyes slip down and notice Nancy's fingers knitting with his, her thumb caressing the back of his hand. Her shaky breath blows onto his throat, unsure and shy. Heat rises to his face with such force that he fears his head might explode. His lips curl up into a smile without his own accord. They gaze into each other's eyes, the flame that once burned in them rekindled.
Nancy tilts her head, her brown curls tickling her shoulder as she does.
"If you want," she whispers with a cunning look, "I could put in a good word for you."
"Really?" he responds flirtatiously. "That would be nice of you."
"What should I write? 'I hereby testify that your son, Steve Harrington, is a very responsible young man, who never lets others down and always does his best to help them even when he doesn't have to'."
"Sounds like you got me figured out."
Their noses brush timidly, but their faces don't come any closer. Keeping the chastity and innocence of this moment, Nancy cups his jaw with her free hand, pressing her forehead against his.
"Don't be a stranger in Boston, mmh?" she intones.
"Never. As long as you don't become one either."
"Never."
She smiles and presses her lips against his burning cheek, dropping her hand from his face and squeezing his fingers.
"You look tired. You should get some rest. Do you have to work tonight?"
"No. But would you like to come in?"
"No, I'm good," she beams. "Thank you for being here, Steve. For taking the time to talk to me. I'm sorry about last time, I was…"
"You have nothing to justify. You were having a hard time."
"Yeah… I'm much better now that the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Now I just need to prepare for my exams next week."
"Already prepared though, I assume?"
"Always."
Her smile widens as she gives him another kiss on the cheek. Her fingers release him as she walks down the driveway, turning to him to wave. His heart races in his chest, but something's off. While the interaction exhilarates him, something bothers him, something he can't quite seem to put his finger on.
With a sigh, he unlocks his door and goes straight to bed.