Jonathan stepped out into the cool air, shivering as it hit the exposed skin of his face, and made his way over to Steve, who was cleaning his BMW with soap and water. He had just gotten it back that morning. Hopper drove it to the Byers house that morning, the house that Steve would call home until further notice, and it wasn't very clean, covered in sap from trees and bird waste, dirt covering the sides from a lack of use and care.
Steve was currently working on the headlights, scrubbing furiously, his brow furrowed in concentration. It was a welcome difference from a couple of nights ago, after Steve's mom had called and he basically shut down. Jonathan didn't know how to describe what happened, all he knew was that Steve ignored the pain and made it look like it wasn't hurting him, when it had to be, right? How could the rejection from his mom not be painful? Joyce seemed really concerned, but didn't share her worries with anyone. Jonathan didn't really know what to think of that.
He walked closer, grass crunching under his feet as he did so. Steve looked up at the noise, eyes wide and worried until he saw who it was.
"Oh. Hey."
"Hey." Jon said, coming closer. "Need a hand?"
Steve shook his head no, picking up the hose and turning it on, letting the water clean off the soap and dirt from the lights, before turning it off and beginning to scrub again.
"I'll be okay, but thanks."
Jonathan took a moment to study Steve. He found it ironic. Steve was putting so much effort into making his car better when he clearly wouldn't put any effort in to help himself. Steve, as far as Jonathan knew, wasn't talking to anyone about his parents, and barely ate or slept. Yet, none of it showed on his body. He wasn't losing weight, didn't get huge bags under his eyes, or even show any sign of exhaustion. And now, Jonathan couldn't help but notice more strange things that he couldn't explain. Steve's hands, although being exposed to water for a couple of hours, wasn't wrinkled or red, and he was wearing a short sleeve shirt, despite the chilly weather.
It was no wonder why Joyce had told Jonathan to bring out his extra coat.
"Here." Jonathan said, handing him the coat, and Steve eyed it confusedly.
"Um…"
"It's pretty cold out here, you'll probably be a lot warmer with it on." He continued with a shrug. "I'm just saying."
Steve nodded hesitantly, drying his hands on his jeans and taking the coat. He slid his arms into it, shrugging it on but making no move to zip it up, as if he wasn't freezing when he should've been.
"Thanks."
"No worries, it's the least I can do."
The two of them fell into an uncomfortable silence, each of them being unsure about what to say. Steve buried his hands into the jacket pockets, his hair blowing gently in the wind, and Jonathan couldn't help but notice the distant look in his eyes, the distant look that seemed impossible to be seen on King Steve. But, he wasn't King Steve anymore, was he? He hadn't been King Steve in a while, and certainly not now, when he was clearly burdened with trauma and pain.
Steve had changed, and Jonathan knew that he had, too. So, shouldn't their relationship change, too? Couldn't they be friends instead of acting like polite strangers all of the time?
Jonathan remembered telling Will that he wanted to make things right with Steve, and now he had that opportunity, an opportunity that he wasn't sure was possible. Shouldn't he take it? Wasn't now as good a time as any?
"I'm sorry." Jonathan said, looking to the ground and away from Steve's piercing gaze.
"For what?"
"Everything. Dragging you into this Upside Down mess for making you fight that Demogorgon, everything with Nancy…I did so many things wrong."
Steve was silent for a minute, and Jonathan wondered if Steve would forgive him. He didn't deserve that much.
"It wasn't your fault. I made the choice to fight that Demogorgon." Steve said firmly. "I made the choice to run back into your house and pick up that bat. That wasn't on you, it was on me."
Jonathan looked up, shocked. "Butー"
"No. Don't do that, Byers. Don't you dare blame yourself for that night."
"Okay, but with Nancyー"
"She made her decision, and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter. She's happy with you, and I didn't treat her like I should've. I was a jerk to you and her."
Jonathan took a deep breath. "I guess we all did some things wrong."
Steve nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm willing to forget it, though. Life's too…too precious to be wasted on blame." He looked to the trees above them, his hand touching his watch lightly. "Our humanity shouldn't be burdened with guilt, it's way too valuable for that. We have to keep it strong, or else we'll become something we're not."
Jonathan couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper weight behind those words, but he didn't know what to say to it. He didn't have to say anything, though, as Steve looked back to him, shrugging self-consciously.
"Well, we are going to be basically brothers for a while. Do you want to leave all of the past behind us and be friends?"
Jon nodded. "Absolutely."
Steve managed a small smile, and Jonathan tried to give him a smile back. Despite the reassurance and bit of relief that he felt in his chest at the words, he still felt as if there was a barrier between them, stopping their friendship from becoming true. Jonathan had no doubt that it was the secrets that Hopper, Joyce, Robin, and Steve himself kept so tight lipped, the truth of what happened to the two of them. Because, how could Jonathan truly be friends, truly help Steve if he didn't know what happened? What if he did something wrong and set off a trigger for Steve? What if, in words he said, he was being insensitive without even realizing it? What if he made Steve's recovery backpedal?
He wanted to ask what happened, yet he didn't know how to, or even if he should. So he kept a tight lipped smile, and helped Steve continue to clean his car, hoping that he could make things better in the small things, even if he didn't really understand.
Steve seemed to appreciate the help, and Jonathan counted that as a win.
"Robin? Robin, are you okay?"
She was at their door, tears streaming down her face and her knees scraped and bloody, her hair a wild mess. This was not what Jonathan expected when he answered the door, only a couple of hours after finishing cleaning Steve's car.
"Steve. I need to see Steve. Please."
"Okay, come on in." He said, gently leading her inside. Her body was shaking, and Will took her hand wordlessly, leading her to the couch.
"Mom! Steve!" Jonathan called, and the two rushed out of the kitchen, Steve's eyes wide as he took in the state of his friend.
"Robin!"
He ran to her side, pulling her into a hug and let her sob into his shoulder, Joyce hustling the other two boys out of the room. Jonathan followed without resistance, he knew that whatever Robin was upset about had to be related to their experiences while they were gone, so it was a secret.
"It was a stupid tuna sandwhich!" They heard Robin cry out, Steve shushing her gently. "It was just a sandwich and I lost it!"
Jonathan closed the door to his room, Will proceeded to sit on the bed, eyes wide with worry. Before they could hear anything more, Jon turned on some music, drawing out the panicked voices from the living room. He then sat beside Will, the two sitting shoulder to shoulder, and tried not to be too worried.
"Do you think that she'll be okay?" Will asked softly, and Jonathan nodded.
"Yeah, Steve and Robin will be able to help her."
"What about Steve? He hasn't talked to anyone, I'm getting worried, especially after his mom called."
Jonathan sighed. "I don't know. We just need to give them both as much support as we can, even if we don't know what happened."
"Then shouldn't we be out there right now? Helping?"
Jonathan couldn't help but be thankful for his brother's kind heart. "It's probably best that we stay away for a while, if Mom needs us she'll come get us."
Will nodded, turning his attention to his hands, no doubt feeling as hopeless as Jonathan did. Yet, as if a switch had been flipped. Will's eyes began to fill with tears, and he sobbed, his small body shaking.
"Will?" Jonathan asked, and Will struggled to take in a breath. "What's wrong?"
"I…I don't know. I'm just really sad and really scared…I don't know…I'm so scared. I'm so scared."
Jonathan wrapped his little brother in a big hug, unsure at what was going on, but knowing that his brother needed comforting. Will melted into the embrace, gripping Jon's shirt desperately. Yet, no matter how long Jonathan tried to comfort him, nothing was working, and Will got worse and worse. He had begun rocking in Jon's embrace, and the older boy was getting scared himself.
This wasn't normal, was it? What was going on?
He needed help. Will needed help.
"Mom? Mom, we need help!" He yelled, shutting off the music, and it only took a second for Joyce to rush in. She only needed a moment more to understand the situation, and took Will into her own arms, kissing his forehead and muttering into his ear, urgently trying to stop Will's tears and his growing panic attack. Jonathan rested his hand on Will's shoulder, and cast a look to the living room, where Steve was holding Robin much in the same way, the girl crying as urgently as Will was. Steve rocked with her, keeping her locked in his embrace, being a solid comfort for her. He could hear him talking to her, but it was muffled with the cries around them, and he couldn't make out any of the words.
Jonathan's eyes caught Steve's, and a sad look was shared between them before they both turned back to the one that they were comforting.
He didn't know how long they stayed like that, the three of them in his bedroom and Steve and Robin on the couch, but eventually Will's tears dried, and Robin managed to stop panicking.
Joyce gently led Will to the living room, sitting him near Steve and going to grab a cup of water for him. Steve reached over and pulled Will into a small hug.
"Are you okay, Will?" He asked softly, and Will nodded.
"Yeah, I just…I don't know what came over me. I couldn't stop crying."
"It'll be okay. I'm sure that everything's fine."
Will nodded hesitantly, and Robin rested her head on Steve's shoulder, tears drying on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry." Jonathan heard her whisper, and Steve shook his head, voice soft enough that it was clear that he didn't want anyone to hear him but the girl beside him.
"It wasn't your fault. None of it is."
Joyce came back, handing some water to Will and Robin, before going to the phone, no doubt calling Robin's parents. Jonathan wouldn't be surprised if she would be staying in his home with Steve for a little while.
After she made the call, she didn't come back to the living room, but Jon didn't need to wonder why for long.
"Hop? It's Joyce, could you come by? We had a bit of an…incident." He heard her say, and he couldn't help but be relieved at that. Hopper would be able to help whatever was wrong, he knew what was going on and had enough experience to be the helper that they needed.
"You can? Thank you, Hop. And bringing El would be a great idea. I'll see you soon."
Joyce hung up the phone, making her way back, a thin smile on her face.
"Hopper's on his way, and then we can talk about this more, okay, Robin?"
Robin nodded hesitantly. "Okay. I'm sorry to show up like this."
"Don't worry about it, sweetie, I'm always happy to help, no matter what. We'll get everything figured out, I promise."
"Did you want us to leave?" Jonathan asked, "So you guys can have privacy?"
Joyce looked to Jon and Will in question. "Are you sure? It would probably be for the best, but after what just happened一"
"I'll be fine, Mom." Will said. "I feel better. A lot better."
"We can go to the Wheeler's place." Jonathan offered, and Joyce nodded.
"Okay, thank you. But, if anything happens一"
"We'll call or come straight home, I promise."
She wrapped them both in a quick hug. "Thank you. And have fun."
Jon nodded, leading Will out of the house and into his car, turning it on and driving away as soon as they were buckled in. Will was silent beside him, and looked out the window with confused eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asked, and Will shrugged.
"I just…it didn't feel normal."
"Because it wasn't." Jonathan said, some missing pieces finally clicking together. "It was probably supernatural."
"What? What do you mean? You think it's the Upside Down?"
The older boy sighed. "I don't know. I really don't know. I just have a suspicion. One that Nancy will be able to help with."
"I thought you didn't want to know what happened?"
"I didn't want to pry or try and figure it out, but that was before you broke down crying. Something big is going on, and I don't think it should be kept a secret. I'm not going to ask them directly, but I need to at least get my thoughts out there. I need to talk about it with someone."
Will nodded in understanding. "And maybe we can then help them."
"Exactly."