Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

All Steve wanted to do was sit down and watch a stupid, cheesy movie that he rented (Stole) from his work. He had popped ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ into the player and sat down, beer in hand. He wasn’t even really paying attention. He was exhausted. Nightmares plagued his sleep and hallucinations plagued his wake. He rubbed his eyes as Judy talked on the screen, Natalie Wood’s frustrated voice filled his living room. His night was interrupted by incessant knocking at his front door.

Steve’s eyes widened, immediately looking around for his bat. He hadn’t heard his Wakie go off. Was this a code red? His heart sped up as he set his beer down, jogging to his door. His shaking hands gripped the knob and turned, revealing a disheveled Robin. She was shaking her hands out and glancing around, but she looked unharmed. Her brown-blonde hair was messy, and a few of her eyelashes were sticking together with clumps of uneven mascara. Her lips were pursed as she met his eyes.

“Steve!” She brightened, a grin forming on her face, trying and failing to cover up her nerves. The boy in question raised an eyebrow. “Robs?”

She hugged him, barging her way into his house like she always did, setting her keys down on the entry table. Steve had taught her to drive after Vecna. It was mostly her screaming and white-knuckling the wheel, and he still didn’t trust her enough to drive the kids around, but she was getting better.

“Did you drive here?” He asked, baffled, as he closed the door. Robin toed off her shoes and made her way into the kitchen, the sounds of the TV muffled.

Robin snorted as she grabbed chips from his cupboard. “Relax, Steve-O, I didn’t hit any squirrels this time.”

Steve shivered, remembering the first time he had actually let Robin drive on a street. She had hit the poor creature because she was only looking at the sky, not the street. The blood had been a pain to clean off.

Robin poured chips into a small bowl and set them on the island. “What are you doing here?” Steve questioned as she shoved a handful into her mouth. She shrugged.

“My parents are suffocating me!” She groaned, throwing her head back. “Ever since the ‘earthquake’ they won’t let me out of their sight!” Steve wished his parent’s cared that much about him. “I had to sneak out after they went to bed! I’m so going to get grounded if they see I took the car.” She sighed, her head in her hands. Steve snorted. Robin’s parents were nice enough, although he’s pretty sure they think Robin and him are dating. He’s not allowed in her room anymore.

Even if Robin wasn’t a hardcore Lesbian, they definitely wouldn’t date. If only Henderson could see that.

Steve crossed his arms as Robin grabbed her bowl. “What are you watching?” She asked, peeking her head into the living room.

“Rebel Without A Cause.” He shrugged, looking over her shoulder. He could hear arguing from the TV but his vision was too blurry to make out the screen. Ever since the Russians, his vision and hearing had gotten worse. He was almost completely deaf in his left ear and he couldn’t see things that were far away. Plus the chronic tinnitus that would probably never leave him.

“Woah,” She whispered. Steve narrowed his eyes and Robin moved closer, into the living room, her eyes transfixed on the screen.

“Who’s the woman on the TV?” She asked, her eyes wide. Steve also moved closer, his vision clearing up to see Judy looking at a guy.

“Natalie Wood?” He asked, side-eyeing Robin. Robin looked at him. “Dude,” She deadpanned. “She’s hot.” Steve blinked and looked back at the screen. Yeah, he could see it. She wasn’t exactly his type. He liked longer hair, but he could see the appeal. Her lips were painted a bright red, and she had a nice nose shape.

“I mean yeah, she's attractive.” Steve shrugged. Robin bent down and sat on the carpet, eyes transfixed on the box. Steve watched her for a moment before shrugging and grabbing his beer, walking back to the kitchen to put it back in the fridge. If Robin wanted to watch a woman in a movie all night, he supposed he could deal. He shook out his hands, bending his fingers and listening to the pops. He didn’t know when the pain started, but he chalked it up to the Russians, like he did with most things. Chronic pain wasn’t a new thing for him.

He sighed as he dragged a hand down his face. It hadn’t even been a month since the earthquake. Everything went to shit. Houses collapsed when the gates opened up, people freaked out and many left. The Harrington residence managed to stay untouched, an unsettling beacon for most Upside Down related things.

Steve’s house always managed to remain upright, even when others collapsed. Besides ‘82, nothing had even really happened in the house. It was as bleak and empty as it was before Barb died. Steve hadn’t even learned that Barb died in his pool until Nancy and him got into a fight after ‘84. Steve couldn’t even look at the water the same.

“Steve!” Robin shouted. Steve perked up and walked back over, Robin looking up at him from his feet. “The movie ended.” She sighed, playing with the carpet. Steve rolled his eyes.

“I might have a few more movies with Natalie Wood in them.” He said, opening a small compartment under the TV. He rifled through a bunch of tapes as Robin squealed and hugged his legs. He smiled as he grabbed two tapes.

“Okay,” He said, shutting the small sliding door. “I have ‘Sex and The Single Girl’ and ‘Inside Daisy Clover.” He held up the tapes. Robin stumbled to her feet and grabbed them out of his hands, turning around and inspecting their covers closely.

“Y’know, Natalie Wood’s death is super mysterious.” Steve muttered, offhandedly. He knew Robin loved mysteries, especially Celebrity Mysteries. When Robin froze he knew he caught her hook line and sinker.

She spun around on her toes, slowly, her eyes wide. It was silent for a moment before she dropped the tapes, ignoring Steve’s stuttered protests, and quickly ran towards him, her white-socked feet sliding across the beige carpet. She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

“Tell. me. Everything.”

Chapter Text

“That’s crazy…” Robin whispers, and Steve could swear he saw stars in her eyes. They had sat down on the couch after digging ice cream out of the freezer, eating straight from the tub. Steve always made sure to have ice cream for everyone.

Banana for Robin, Strawberry for Max, Chocolate for Dustin, Vanilla for Lucas and El, and Rocky Road for Mike and Will.

“So no one knows how she died?” Robin asked, the spoon hanging from her lips. Steve scrunched his nose and tugged the handle out of her mouth, setting it down on a coaster.

“Gross, dude,” He deadpanned as Robin whipped her mouth on the sleeve of her sage green sweatshirt.

“And no, they don’t. All anyone will say is that she was found face down in the water.” He shrugged. Steve knew he wasn’t very smart, but Robin was a genius. She spoke five languages for Christ's sake. She taught Steve Russian and even sat through his useless babbling about how hard it was. Surprisingly, he caught on very quickly, and was able to speak it fluently now, something that bugged the hell out of everyone around them.

Dustin insisted that speaking a different language with each other meant they were in love, but Steve just called him dumb and forced him out of the car so he wouldn’t be late for school. Sometimes, they switched languages in the middle of sentences. Max had called it ‘Ringlish’, but that was before she was reduced to a body in a cold hospital room. Steve shooed that thought away. Max was alive, and getting better each day according to the doctors. She had yet to wake up, but her vitals were stable and they were even getting eye movement apparently.

Lucas finally left her side about a week in, and had to drag El out of the room with him. The two had gotten closer since the Byers moved back to Hawkins, much to the shock of everyone. El and Lucas had always been friends, but never super close. Now, however, they were inseparable.

Steve thought it was cute, in a sort of morbid, sad way. Bonding over someone’s almost death was not the best circumstances, but they cheered each other up, so it wasn’t all bad.

Along with the Byers, Hopper also returned, dragging along Murrey and some Russian guy. Steve had only seen him in passing, although he wanted to pick his mind about Russia. Ever since the Mall incident, he had a macabre interest in Russia. Robin also had the same obsession. The two had poured over books about it for hours. It was one of the only times Steve actually retained what he had read.

Robin and Steve got along so well, it was eerie. Everyone gave them weird looks when they finished each other's sentences or did things friends don’t usually do, like cuddle or hold hands. Maybe they were fueling the dating rumors, or maybe they were just super close. Robin had been there when Steve was diagnosed with Autism, squeezing his hand and telling him she didn’t think of him any different, and that it wasn’t a bad thing. She was also diagnosed, and they only seemed to get closer after that.

Obviously, they never told anyone else about their diagnosis, preferring to keep it to themselves and each other. Steve had his suspicions about some of the kids, especially El, but always kept it to himself, never daring to say anything.

Dustin drifted away for a while, upset about Eddie. The man had barely survived. Steve had to drag him out of the underworld with the help of Nancy and Robin. Even then, they had to scream at the hospital staff to take him. The government showing up to vouch for him had made it better. Eddie had been in a medically induced coma for about a week before he woke up. Still, he was bedridden for weeks after, and only got out a few days ago. His bites were still stitched up, and would be for a while, but he wasn’t at risk of death every time he breathed anymore.

Speaking of Nancy, Steve hadn’t talked to her for a while. With Jonathan back in town, the two had spent almost every day with each other, busying themselves with trying to make things seem normal when it was oh so painfully obvious they were struggling themselves.

“That’s crazy,” Robin repeated, knocking Steve from his reverie. Robin glanced back at the screen, where it was paused on a frame of Natalie Wood in ‘Inside Daisy Clover’.

“She looks like the kind of girl you’d write a song for.” She murmured, transfixed on the woman's face. Steve raised an eyebrow. “Poetic.” He nodded, also looking at the actress. He felt Robin shrug.

“I dunno, I just have the urge to sing for her. Is that weird?” She asked, turning to him. “That’s totally weird, forget it.” She mumbled before he could respond. She stood up and stretched, her arms raised above her head. Steve thought for a moment before nodding.

“It’s not weird,” Steve said, looking up at her. “It’s sweet, you’re right.” Robin tilted her head at him and blinked slowly before reaching out and ruffling his hair, much to his chagrin.

She grinned. “Would you write a song for your girlfriend, Steve-O?” She joked. Steve almost choked. Right, he hadn’t come out to her yet.

Steve thought for so long that he was Bisexual. Well, actually, only a year. After Robin came out, he did more research on labels. Bisexual stood out to him, as if it were highlighted and covered in pink glitter. He always looked at boys a little differently than what was perceived as normal. At first, he chalked it up to jealousy. Who wouldn’t be jealous over well muscled, sweaty men running around in short shorts. He blinked. That was way too detailed.

But recently he had been thinking, something that he never did according to Dustin. He never really looked at girls that way. He wasn’t as sex-crazed as everyone made him out to be. He only ever slept with three girls, one of them being Nancy. He imagined sex would be different with a guy then a girl, obviously, but thinking of kissing a guy excited him more than kissing a girl ever did. He didn’t know if he ever truly loved Nancy, or if it was just admiration and wishful thinking.

He realized he might be taking too long to answer Robin’s query. Steve shrugged.

“I don’t know, I’ve never met someone I’ve loved enough to do that.” Robin raised her eyebrows. “Not even the Great Nancy Wheeler?” She asked, aghast. Her hand was over her heart and she was making an over exaggerated expression of offense, meaning she was just teasing.

Steve snorted. “Not even the Great Nancy Wheeler, no.” He stood up, meeting Robin at eye level. Well, actually, Robin was a little shorter than him, but other than that. She suddenly spun around on her toes, her socked-feet gliding over the carpet.

“Do you even sing?” She asked. “Or play an instrument?” Steve snorted. “No, I don’t. I mean, I can sing, I think. I don’t know, I’ve tried a few times, like singing along with the radio,” Robin listened intently, nodding along. “And my mom complimented me once, but that was like, three years ago so I don’t know, why?”

“Steve,” She whispered as if she was telling a secret. Her eyes were wide, but a smile was stretching across her face.

“Let’s start a band!”

Chapter Text

Steve blinked once, twice, three times, before he spoke again. “What?” He asked, eloquently.

“I said,” Robin groaned, rolling her eyes. “Let’s start a band!” She bounced up and down on her toes, becoming taller and shorter every second. Steve’s eyes hurt following her bobbing head.

“I-” Steve didn’t even know how to answer. “Why?”

Robin shrugged. “Everyone’s been so sad lately! I want to do something fun! And I started learning the drums over the summer! After StarCourt, remember?” Of course Steve remembered, he’s the one who convinced her to go for it. He even bought her the drum set she was eyeing.

“No, Robbie, I must have forgotten that.” He said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. She stuck her tongue out, as the average 17 year old does on a daily basis, obviously. She began pacing back and forth, something she usually did when she talked. She called it ‘stimming’, like how Steve flailed his arms sometimes or rocked back and forth.

“We could also get Eddie! You know he plays the guitar, right? Of course you do, Dustin told us all about his concert in the Upside Down! I also play the trumpet, but I don’t know how useful that will be. Oh!” She suddenly stopped and spun around to face him. “I could get Vickie, too! Did you know she broke up with her boyfriend?” Of course he did, Robin told him about a million times already. “She plays the keyboard! She told me she has practice every Saturday morning! Isn’t that so cool!? She’s so cool.” Steve listened as Robin continued to pace and talk about Vickie, eventually dissolving into incoherent muttering.

Steve sat back down and thought. A band? Seriously? He was eighteen, with a dead end customer service job, and might be able to hold a tune, but that was about it. He had never actually sung a full song. It sounded easy, but he knew it required some serious breath control. His mother had talked about her singer friend when he was younger. She was some kind of Oprah singer or something, and Mary Harrington loved to talk about her.

Steve didn’t know if he could actually be in a band and be a successful member. Sometimes the ringing in his ears overpowered any other noise. Some days he was almost deaf. He couldn’t imagine someone like that would be very successful in a band.

“Robin,” He spoke softly, not wanting to cut her off abruptly. She finished her sentence and then turned to him. It was a thing they did. If one of them interrupted or wanted to stop talking, they would finish their sentence and then just stop. It was an easy mutual understanding they had. Another thing people thought was weird about them.

“I’ve never actually sung anything.” Robin stared at him for a moment before turning and fiddling with the radio on the small table next to the couch. Steve leaned over as he asked her what she was doing, only to be waved off. He raised an eyebrow as she fiddled with the knobs before seemingly finding what she wanted.

“Robin, It’s like, 9:30, I don’t think anything is playing.” He said before she shushed him. She stood back as a song Steve recognized from the top 50 of 1985 ended.

“You have to know one of these songs.” She huffed, crossing her arms as she stared at the device.

They waited for a minute before ‘Everybody Wants to Rule The World’ by Tears For Fears came on. Steve’s face practically lit up and Robin groaned. “Figures you would know this one.” He grinned, grabbing a pen and paper pad from the table. Robin looked at him curiously but said nothing. Steve knew this was only going to end in embarrassment so he didn’t want to be just staring at Robin while he awkwardly stumbled over the words. Well, he wouldn’t stumble. He knew the song like the back of his hand, word for word. He played it nonstop when it came out. He thinks he actually broke the tape. And then the Vecna shit started and he forgot about it.

He hummed the intro as he wrote down random things, mostly groceries, but also movies he wanted to rent. He didn’t even notice how Robin stared at him, her eyes blown wide, as he absentmindedly sung the song, nodding his head along with the chorus. He needed to grab gas the next time he drove, so he wrote that down, too. He didn’t even really notice the way his voice matched the song, though a little louder over the crackle of the radio, or how Robin had begun grinning as if she was a human Cheshire cat. He was in his own little world, just writing down whatever came to mind, sometimes even accidentally transitioning into Russian mid thought. He didn’t erase it, just started on the next line. By the time the song was over, he had covered the first few pages of the notepad in mindless babbles.

He glanced up as he finished and saw Robin staring at him as she reached over and turned off the radio. Neither of them were actually looking each other in the eyes, of course. That was far too uncomfortable. Instead, Steve looked between the eyes, and Robin stared at noses.

It was silent for a moment as Steve fidgeted with his pencil. Robin cleared her throat, her fist over her mouth.

“Well that..was something..” She said. Steve cringed. “Horrible, right?” He sighed, setting the notepad down. Robin’s eyes widened as she began flailing her arms around.

“No, no no!” She shrieked. “The opposite! Steve that was- that was amazing! I think I’d actually like Tears for Fears if you were the singer!” She laughed, sitting down next to him. He rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to lie to me, Robs. You can just say I sound like a dying cat.” Robin’s nose scrunched.

“Ugh, I’d never say that, to anyone! Cat’s are too awesome for me to imagine them dying!” She said, wiping away a fake tear. Steve just stared at her.

“No, Steve, that was actually really good!” She grinned, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him back and forth. He squeezed his eyes shut as they seemed to rattle in his skull. He put a hand out to shove her off him as they giggled.

“You’re not messing with me?” He asked when he caught his breath. She shook her head, her hair swinging back and forth. “Nope! Pinky promise!” She said, sticking out her pinky. Steve snorted and rolled his eyes, but interlocked their pinkies anyway. They held it for a moment before breaking apart.

“You do know that if you break that promise, I get to chop off your pinky, right?” He asked. Robin shrieked and scrambled away as he laughed.

Chapter Text

“We can’t start a band, Robin,” Steve sighed. It was way past Midnight now, and they were laying on top of the covers of Steve’s bed, staring up at the glow and the dark stars Steve put up for them last summer. “It’s just the two of us.”

Robin hummed and stayed silent for a moment before turning over to face him, her hands underneath her cheek.

“Eddie plays the guitar,” She whispered. Steve snorted and turned his head to see her. “Yeah, for a metal band. That's not exactly our style.” Robin rolled her eyes with a huff.

“He could play other things,” She said. “He doesn’t only know metal. And Vickie plays the keyboard.” Steve blinked.

“What would we even call our hypothetical band?” He asked, waving his arms a little. Robin seemed to think for a moment, her eyes drifting up, above Steve’s body.

“I got this idea from Natalie Wood.” She murmured. Steve laughed, quietly. “Yeah, you called her ‘The Girl On The TV.’” He said, making air quotes. Robin giggled, shoving her face into the pillow. Steve smiled as she laughed. It was always nice to hear Robin laugh. She never laughed with Steve in the first few months that they knew each other, it was always at him. It was nice to be able to make someone else happy.

She mumbled something into the pillow. Steve hummed, asking her to speak up. She lifted her head.

“You could always ask Eddie to teach you how to play the guitar.” Robin whispered. Steve stared at her before turning and looking back at the plastic stars.

It was quiet for a few minutes before Steve spoke again. “What do you think they’re made of?” He asked quietly. Robin hummed as she turned over and stared at the ceiling.

“Zinc?” She answered, turning her head. Steve raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

“I think it was on the box.”

“It was definitely not on the box.”

“No, it definitely was!”

_______

In the morning, Steve made waffles. It was so painfully average, not what he was used to. The kids never came over anymore, despite Steve always expecting to be woken up by incessant knocking or his Walkie Talkie going off.

Robin ran down the stairs about an hour after him, her hair wild and tangled, her red plaid pajama pants were cuffed, her white sports bra tangled in the back.

“Steve.” She groaned. Steve glanced up from the batter. She rubbed her eyes and turned around, revealing the tangled straps. Steve snorted as he walked up and untangled them for him.

“You’re a mess, Buckley.” He joked, patting her on the back before she swatted his hand away.

She peered over his shoulder. “Whatcha makin?” She slurred. Steve turned his head and shrugged. “Waffles. Why? You want some?” She rolled her eyes. “Of course I want some!” She hissed, punching his shoulder as he laughed.

It was quiet for a bit as Robin sat down at the island, the sound of sizzling batter filling the kitchen. Robin was staring at him expectantly. Steve tried to ignore it, but the puppy dog eyes that she was making was really throwing him off his cooking game. He plated the finished waffles before sighing.

“Okay, what?” He asked, spinning around. She immediately looked everywhere but him, chewing her nails.

“What? What’s what? What are you talking about?” She rambled. Steve gave her an unimpressed look. She sighed. “Okay so I was thinking about the band-” She admitted before Steve cut her off with a groan, throwing his head back. She stumbled over protests.

“Steve! Listen to me, okay!? I was just thinking about names because, like, ‘The Girl On The TV’ sounds way too long and honestly? It’s dorky. And I know I’m dorky, and Vickie's dorky, and Eddie’s dorky, and you’re..” She trailed off as Steve stared at her.

“I’m what?” He pushed, grinning. Robin stuttered for a moment before giving up. “You’re dorky, Steve!” She said, throwing her hands up in the air. Steve laughed. “I am not!”

“You totally are!” She giggled, throwing her hands out to gesture at him. “You’re like, mega-dorky! You like video games and reality shows!”

“That’s not dorky!” “It is, Steve! It really is!” They laughed as they argued, hands waving and petty insults brushing past their lips.

“You don’t even know how to stand! You’re awkward, Steve! And you like Star Wars! Even though you can barely follow the plot half the time!”

“That doesn’t make me dorky!”

“Uh, yeah, it does! It so does! It makes you a super Dork! King Dork!”

Steve spluttered as Robin laughed at him, waffles forgotten.

“Forget King Steve, you’re King Dork!” Steve hit her over the head, her hair flying around as she laughed, holding onto the table.

“You like Natalie Wood! The TV Girl! You’re the dork!” He muttered, crossing his arms. If anyone asked him, Steve wasn’t pouting. If anyone asked her, Steve was totally pouting.

Robin froze, eyes wide. Steve’s arms dropped to his sides, concerned. “Robs?” He asked gently. He didn’t mean to trigger her, it was an accident. They were both still recovering from the latest incident, and StarCourt still haunted them. Sometimes, new triggers popped up and they couldn’t warn each other in time.

She gasped. “Steve,” She whispered. “You’re a genius!” Steve raised an eyebrow. Sure, sometimes people called him smart, although very rarely, but a genius? Never.

“Uh, what?” He muttered, eloquently, as Robin took him by the shoulders. “TV Girl!” She smiled. Steve tilted his head.

“Natalie Wood?”

“No, dumbass!” There it was. Steve wasn’t a genius. Although he knew Robin meant it affectionately.

“Our band! We can call it TV Girl!”

____

“This is so stupid.” Steve groaned, his head rested by his hands on the steering wheel. It had been a few hours since breakfast, and Robin had begged him to drive to Eddie’s new
Government-funded house. It wasn’t a trailer, but it wasn’t a big house, either. It was a small, two bedroom one bathroom with a combined living room and kitchen, but it was better than nothing. Currently, Steve and Robin were sitting in Steve’s car outside said house.

“What? No it’s not! It’s perfect! Eddie’s band basically went kablooey, and he’s bored! He is so. Very. Bored.” Robin staccato-ed. Steve groaned. “Fine, whatever.” He muttered, pulling his keys out of the ignition and getting out. Robin followed him up to the door.

“You’re doing the talking.” He hissed, and Robin gave him a two fingered salute. He knocked and the two waited, Robin standing slightly in front of Steve, as if she were shielding him.

It’s not that Steve hated Eddie, quite the opposite actually. Eddie’s little touches and lean-ins were nice, friendly, even. It was just that Eddie didn’t seem to like him. That’s mostly why Steve thought this whole band thing was stupid. Eddie liked metal. That was a fact. It was a fact in the way that it’s a fact that the sky is blue and grass is green and Eddie did not like pop.

Steve doubted that Eddie would agree, and even if he did, he wouldn’t. Steve rocked on his feet as the seconds dragged on before the white front door finally opened. Ocean blue met dark brown as Robin and Eddie made eye contact. Well, once again, maybe not eye contact-eye contact, but close enough.

“Buckley? Harrington?” Eddie asked, sounding confused. To be fair, Steve and Robin hadn’t really talked to Eddie much since the hospital, and they did feel bad about it, but they were going through their own things and didn’t think they would be able to properly support Eddie. The two were basically catatonic over Max and the Byers and PTSD that they would probably just hurt everyone more. However, they knew that Eddie had been spending time with the kids and even Jonathan, Nancy, and the guy that the Byers brought back with them, Argyle.

“Hi, Eddie!” Robin greeted, waving. Eddie glanced at Steve and then looked back at Robin. “We were wondering if we could talk to you?” She bounced on her toes slightly as she talked, a sign that she was nervous. Eddie seemed to pick up on this because he stepped back and opened the door more, beckoning them in. Robin grinned as she walked into the small house, Steve nodding his head at the boy. Oh God, this was going to be awkward, Steve just knew it.

Steve and Eddie had never gotten along. Steve had never actually directly bullied Eddie in high school, but he wouldn’t lie and say he never talked about him. Eddie was a very well known figure, the town pariah. Everyone knew about him. Steve might’ve made some passing comments, but he didn’t really remember. He did know, however, that he pushed around a few of Eddie’s friends, maybe even his bandmates once or twice.

So far, Eddie hadn’t explicitly said that he hated Steve, but he had made passing comments, indirectly called him an asshole, and been overly sarcastic. He didn’t blame Eddie at all, but it was irritating sometimes. It was fine though, hopefully Robin being there would break the tension.

Robin immediately sat down on the couch, spreading herself out and looking totally comfortable. Steve, however, stood awkwardly to the side, not sure that Eddie would want him to touch any of his stuff, lest he contaminate it with his stupidity.

“So Edward, may I call you Edward?” Robin asked, not waiting for an answer before she continued. “We have a proposition for you. ‘We’ being Harrington and I,” she grinned. Eddie raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two.

“I’m listening, I guess.”

“How would you like to join a band?”

Chapter Text

It was silent for a moment before Eddie spoke again.

“A.. band?” He asked, his head tilted. He sounded confused, but he looked curious. At least, Steve thought he did. He wasn’t the best at reading people.

“Yes, a band. Y’know, the word derived from Old French, a group of people, usually playing music-”

Eddie cut her off, his hand raised to stop her. “Yeah, I know what a band is. I was in one for years. I’m just.. Confused?” he raised an eyebrow, once again glancing at Steve, who was still standing and looking anywhere but Eddie.

“Well you see,” Robin started, waving her hands. “I have this frankly brilliant idea, something I usually have in these trying times. I concocted the idea to start a small music group, nothing fancy. It might not be metal, but it would keep you busy.” She said. Her tone sounded promising.

“Where does Harrington come into this?” Eddie asked, his arms crossed. Steve chuckled, nervously, his hands behind his back. He looked down, his face heating up.

“He’s our singer, of course!” Robin said, jumping up and placing her hands on Steve’s shoulders as if to show him off. Eddie furrowed his brows.

“The Harrington can sing?” He asked, sounding disbelieving. Robin nodded, energetically.

“Yes he can! Show him, Steve!” She shook him. He shook his head quickly. He wanted to curl in on himself. This was far more humiliating than he imagined.

“Okay, he can’t show you right now, but! But I heard it and I can vouch for him.” She smiled. Steve put his head in his hands, suddenly very aware of Eddie’s eyes focused solely on him.

Eddie narrowed his eyes but nodded, slowly. “Okay… Harrington can sing. Noted,” He muttered. “And you can..?” She gestured to Robin.

“Drums! I can play the drums! I’ve been learning and I’d like to say I’m pretty good! Oh, and I can play the trumpet, although I don’t know how much use that would be, haha..” She trailed off, feeling nervous. Eddie blinked before sighing.

“Yeah, fine, whatever. I’ll humor you.” He groaned. Robin cheered silently, an excited look in her eyes that made Steve smile. Eddie stared suspiciously at the two.

“Oh! We also gotta convince Vickie!” Robin gasped.

“Uh, who?” Eddie felt lost, looking between the two.

“Robin’s friend from band.” Steve said, casually. It was the first time Steve had actually spoken since seeing Eddie. Robin nodded, suddenly full of energy. Eddie could see a faint blush on her cheeks, which almost solidified his opinion on her. Although if he was right, he couldn’t understand why Steve Harrington of all people was hanging out with her, let alone calling her his best friend. Unless, of course, he didn’t know. That would make more sense.

“So we convince this Vickie girl and then what?” He asks, placing his hands on his hips. The two just stared at him, at a loss for words.

“Okay so we haven’t actually thought that far ahead yet.” Robin stated. Eddie groaned.

_____

“Hi Vickie!” It was day twenty nine of working at the donation center, and the two girls were still going strong. If anything, Robin was becoming more infatuated with the girl. She knew it wasn’t healthy, considering Vickie was most likely straight, but she just couldn’t help it. Something in her gay little brain wouldn’t let her drop her debilitating crush on the red-head.

“Hey, Robin.” Vickie smiled, her gloves crinkling as she slipped them on over her rings.

“You look nice today!” Robin was terrible at making small talk, but compliments she could do. Plus, Vickie really did look nice today. Actually, Vickie looked nice everyday, But that wasn’t the point. Today, Vickie was wearing a pretty blue blouse with black overalls, her white knee highs were half down, her worn out sneakers painted with stars. She was also wearing strawberry earrings, which she had told Robin she made herself.

Vickie glanced down at her outfit. “Oh, thank you! It was honestly just something I threw together last minute. You look nice too!” She said, gesturing to Robin. Robin blushed. Honestly, Robin’s loose jeans and dull striped T-Shirt were nothing compared to Vickie, but still. Compliments from the girl she likes? Uh, yes please.

There was silence between them for a while as they did their jobs, but it wasn’t that super uncomfortable silence that made your skin itch, it was the kind of silence where they were both just existing and they had no problem with that. It was the opposite of what Robin was used to. Eventually, though, Robin just had to talk.

“Hey, um, I actually wanted to ask you something.” She said, setting down the knife she was using to cut a sandwich in half. Vickie looked up, giving Robin her full attention. “Yeah, what’s up?”

Robin stuttered for a moment as her hands shook slightly. “I was just wondering, and it’s totally okay if not! Like I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do! You can say no and I will totally respect that! Like I respect people saying no and like-”

“Robin, just ask!” Vickie laughed. Robin quickly steeled herself. This shouldn’t be that hard. It wasn’t like she was asking her out. Oh God. Don’t think about that, don’t think about that.

“Right, sorry! Some of my friends and I have this idea to um, start a band,” She cringed at how dorky she sounded. “Like, it’s just for fun, nothing serious or whatever, and I just wanted to know if you were interested?” Vickie stared at her. Oh no, backtrack! Backtrack!! “I mean, it’s stupid! It’s just, you told me you played the keyboard and I just assumed- Y’know what? It’s stupid! Forget it.” She rambled.

“No, no!” Vickie panicked. “No! It- It sounds fun! It sounds really fun, Robin. I would love to join, if you’ll have me?”

It was Robin’s turn to stare. This had to be a dream, or at least, it had to have some kind of catch, right? Nothing ever goes this smoothly for her. Like, ever. Robin must’ve looked like a fish before she snapped out of it.

“Yes! Yes of course I’ll have you! I wouldn’t have asked if I- forget it! This is great!” She smiled, and Vickie smiled back!

Robin had given Vickie Steve’s number and told her to call at exactly 7:00 PM that night. The rest of the day had gone by smoothly, with Steve only smirking at her from across the gym.

______

“She looks at you like you hung the stars!” Steve laughed. Robin groaned, tilting her seat back farther so she wouldn’t have to see him. “She totally likes boobies.” Robin shrieked and slapped him on the arm, albeit lightly because he was driving and she didn’t have a death wish.

“Women are complicated, Steve!” She sighed. “We look at people like that sometimes, I’ve looked at you that way sometimes.” Steve cringed.

“Uh no, not with that much love,” He shook his head. “I looked into her eyes -shut up- and I only saw love, Birdie.”

Robin giggled. “You looked into her eyes?” She sounded flabbergasted. “Since when are you capable of doing that?”

“Shut up.” Steve mumbled, pulling into his driveway. She sat up, pulling her seat with her. They got out of the car and Steve jumped up his steps, unlocking the front door quickly.

“After you, Ma’lady.” He said, bowing slightly and gesturing her in. She snorted. “Why thank you, Duke Harrington.” She said, putting emphasis on the last part of his name while fake-curtseying. They laughed as they made their way into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

“Oh my God, today was awesome! I mean, did you see what she was wearing?!” Robin shrieked, smothering her face in a pillow.

“Yeah, it looked really nice on her.” Steve nodded. “I know! It went so well with her hair! Blue is totally her color!” Robin flailed.

___

Steve’s phone rang a few hours later.

“Harrington residence, Steve speaking.” Steve answered, his tone bored.

“Oh!” A girl’s voice said, sounding surprised. “I’m sorry, I must have the wrong number uh-” Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Vickie?” He asked. Immediately he heard pounding feet before Robin shoved him out of the way, grabbing the phone and putting it to her ear.

“Vickie? Hey, yeah it’s Robin! …. No you didn’t have the wrong number! Sorry, I should have warned you! …. No, it's totally fine! No need to apologize! …. Yeah, Steve is one of the friends I mentioned, Eddie is the other one, Eddie Munson. ….. Oh, you know him? Great! Yeah, that’s great! …. Ah, we were planning on meeting up on Tuesday, actually! Like, three days from now, Tuesday! At 5PM! Is that okay? …. Okay that’s great! I’ll see you then, I guess! …. Bye Vickie!” Robin quickly slammed the phone back on the receiver and squealed.

“She’s coming!” She laughed, throwing her hands up. Steve laughed with her.

Chapter Text

Sunday and Monday came and went. Tuesday morning, Steve woke up to the sun shining into his eyes, his body half under the covers. He rubbed his eyes as his senses flowed back to him, slowly. He lied there for a moment, tiredness slipping away. He sat up suddenly as a loud banging sounded through the house. He groaned as he pulled himself out of bed, stumbling his way down the stairs and to the door.

Robin stood outside the door, her arms full with boxes.

“Robs?” He slurred, blinking. She pushed past him with a rushed greeting, setting her boxes down in the living room.

“Hi, Steve! I have a few more of these!” She grinned, running out the door to, supposedly, grab more boxes. Steve stood there, dumbly, as she rushed back and forth until all six boxes were placed on his carpet. He shut the door as she collapsed on his couch.

“I’m sorry, what is all this?” Steve asked, glancing around. Robin blinked before jumping up and moving towards the closest box, prying it open and lifting some contraption out of it.

“Okay, I dug into my savings,” she said. She continued before Steve could protest. “And I know you said it was for college or whatever, but this is like investing! Anyways, this stuff is like old band equipment. Microphones, a few video tapes, some kind of sound system I think, I dunno.” She shrugged, plopping back down on the couch, the contraption (Microphone?) set on the table. Steve glanced around.

“And you… carried these in?” He asked.

“Well yeah, they’re not that heavy. Although help would’ve been appreciated.” She glared, although there was no real heat behind it. Even after knowing her for so long, Robin was still a mystery to Steve sometimes.

Steve sighed, dragging a hand down his face. He couldn’t believe he agreed to this. He couldn’t believe Eddie agreed to this. Vickie, he could understand. She was so obviously crushing on Robin, he didn’t understand how the girl couldn’t see it. It was going to be a nightmare working with those two. But Eddie? Sure, Eddie and Robin could get along, he could understand that, but they weren’t like, super best friends or anything. They barely ran in the same circles. Steve had just given up on trying to understand anything Eddie did anymore. It was easier that way. Less headaches.

“Okay, where did you even get all this?” He asks, gesturing around. It kind of looked like he was moving.

Robin just shrugged. “Around.” She grinned like the cryptic little asshole she was. Steve huffed and turned, heading into the kitchen for some coffee, tuning out Robin turning the TV on and flipping through the cartoons. This was going to be a long day.

_____

Eddie didn’t know why he agreed to this. He sighed, sticking his keys in the ignition of his beat up van. He knew this was a bad idea. He knew it from the second King Steve and Buckley walked into his new house.

He didn’t even really hate Harrington, it was more of a petty grudge for pushing a few of his friends around in highschool. It was also slightly entertaining to push the guys buttons, but so far, he had been pretty nice. It was a sour surprise when Eddie learned Steve-fucking-Harringon was involved in interdimensional monsters and girls with superpowers, but whatever, he could deal. What he couldn’t deal with was being in close contact with him for an extended period of time. He was still on the fence on joining whatever ‘band’ Buckley had set up, but he was bored and Harrington could suck it if he didn’t like Eddie.

Eddie huffed as he turned his keys, loud metal washing over him. He nodded his head as he drove, the sun just on the verge of hitting the quarter point in the sky. His arm draped out of the driver's side window, the cold wind hitting his fingers. This was a stupid idea. He could turn around if he wanted, just abandon it and never see Harrington ever again. It probably wouldn’t even be that hard, considering that Eddie was still in school, and Steve had no reason to be anywhere near his house at any given time. He groaned, slowing down slightly as he entered the Harrington neighborhood. He probably sounded obsessed with the guy, but he wasn’t. Steve Harrington just happened to be a guy that everyone knew. He was hard to avoid, and now he was about to willingly hangout with him for who knows how long.

He pulled into the driveway of the famous house, noting a small, light yellow car next to Steve’s car. Probably Buckley, if he had to guess. Eddie sat there for a moment, glaring into the still windows of the Harrington House™. He sighed, eventually pulling his keys and getting out. There was no point in delaying the inevitable. Before he could get any further, however, another Beemer pulled up. It parked on the street in front of the house. A girl got out of the driver's side and she ran a hand through her wild red curls. Eddie’s breath caught for a moment. Red hair reminded him of Max.

The girl made eye contact with him and froze. They stared at each other for a moment before Eddie coughed and waved. The girl blinked and waved back, walking up the driveway.

“Hi,” She said, sounding nervous. “You’re Eddie, right?” And oh, this must be the Vickie girl that Robin had talked about. Eddie didn’t really recognize her. He had almost feared Robin had been talking about Carmichael, but there was no way Miss ‘Steal Your Man’ was interacting with someone like Robin.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, that's me. You must be Vickie.” He stuck his hand out for her to shake, feeling awkward. He wasn’t exactly the best at meeting new people. Thankfully, Vickie shook his outstretched hand, smiling.

“I’m Vickie!” She grinned, her curls bouncing in the wind. They began walking up the driveway together.

“Did Buckley and Harrington drag you into this shit, too?” He joked. Vickie laughed, shaking her head slightly.

“Dragged is a little dramatic,” She snorted. “But yeah, basically.” Eddie nodded as he knocked on the front door. Okay, so this hadn’t gone south yet, but he had no doubt that it would at some point. A thump could be heard from behind the door before it swung open, revealing a very frazzled looking Robin Buckley, her arm above her head, leaning on the doorway, trying desperately to appear casual. She blew some hair out of her face and smiled at the two.

“Hey! You guys made it!” She said, out of breath. Vickie and Eddie glanced at each other. Mordor it is.

_____

Robin hadn’t meant to fall down the stairs, obviously. The knock on the door had startled Steve and Robin so much that the two froze, standing on opposite sides of Steve’s bed. It was silent for a moment before the two started scrambling, making a mad dash down the hall and trying to push each other back. Robin had tripped over her socks and tumbled down the stairs, Steve gaping at her from the top as she quickly righted herself and swung the door open, leaning on the doorframe to try and appear casual.

Based on the look on Vickie and Eddie’s faces, she was failing miserably.

Life 1, Robin 0

She blew a strand of hair from her eyes and smiled. “Hey!” She internally cringed at how winded she sounded. “You guys made it!”

Vickie and Eddie glanced at each other before looking back at her, nodding almost in sync.

“Hi, Robin.” Vickie smiled, waving slightly. Eddie pursed his lips and ducked his head in greeting, looking away. It was quiet for a moment, Steve walking down the stairs slowly. Robin blinked before realizing.

“Oh!” She blushed, stepping aside. “C’mon in!” The two entered, taking their shoes off at the entrance and glancing around as Steve led them to the overly-large kitchen. Steve said it was the perfect size, and Robin had to remind him that he was stupid rich and that everything that is the ‘perfect size’ is drastically overcompensated.

“Do you guys want anything? I have coffee, decaf too. I also have green tea, chamomile, and lemonade.” Steve said, rocking on his feet. If the other two noticed that he was nervous, they said nothing.

“Uh, I’m good.” Eddie muttered, still looking around. Vickie smiled. “Lemonade sounds nice, if that’s okay.” Steve nodded and grabbed the bottle from the fridge, quickly filling it up and handing it to her. She thanked him.

“So..” Steve leaned on the counter as Vickie and Eddie sat at the island, Robin still standing, awkwardly.

“Tell me about this band.”

Chapter Text

Vickie was not a believer in God. Fact.

Vickie did not wear crosses or decorate her house with them. Fact.

Vickie was currently thanking God for this opportunity to see Robin freaking Buckley behind the drums. Fact.

Vickie hadn’t really known liking girls and boys was an option until a month ago, and suddenly it all made sense. Phoebe Cates was drop dead gorgeous, any girl could see that. Vickie didn’t think that it was weird that she felt attracted to her. She’s a famous actress, it would never happen. And yet, sometimes she went to Family Video just to see a girl.

Natalie Wood may be Robin’s ‘Girl on The TV’, but she was Vickie’s ‘Girl Behind the Counter’. But it wasn’t like she could tell Robin that, that was weird. A Lesbian in some hick town? No way. And yet, the way Robin carried herself, always looking at girls a little too long. But she didn’t want to assume. For all she knew, Robin was totally straight but could appreciate a cute girl. Plus, she was pretty sure she and Harrington had something going on, despite her claims that they were just friends. So she continued to suffer and pin in silence, hoping she would notice but also wouldn’t at the same time. It was a confusing limbo of wanting to be noticed but also wanting to stay hidden.

It was fine, though, if Robin never actually noticed. Vickie would live out her life like usual, probably finding some guy to settle down with eventually, but she would never be happy. Sure, she could have the generic happiness that everyone felt at some point in their lives, but never that special happiness that was kept in the lockbox in the back of her mind. The heart crushing happiness where your chest physically hurts from being so overwhelmed with love. The carefully curated lock of that box could never be opened by someone as average as Dan, but someone who made her want to spin until she vomited. Someone who would lay on her at night and not ask questions as to why she needed pressure to fall asleep. Someone like Robin.

“Tell me about this band.” She said, wringing out her hands, nervously. And God, why did Robin have to light up like that?

“Okay, so!” Robin began her tale. “Steve was watching some cheesy movie when I came over, and I saw one of the actresses on the screen, Natalie Wood, and oh. My. God,” Robin gushed. “She was мифический!” Vickie blinked, confused. Was that.. Russian? Steve snorted, his hand covering his mouth.

“Did you just describe her as ‘Mythical’?” He laughed. Robin slapped his arm, blushing furiously. Vickie glanced at Eddie, who looked just as confused. Steve and Robin spoke Russian? Robin muttered something under her breath before continuing. Whatever she said made Steve laugh harder.

“Whatever, she was pretty. Anyway! I got the idea from her, because she looked like the kind of person you’d write a song about, y’know?” Robin stumbled over her words, but eventually got her point across.

Vickie opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. How does one even respond to that? It was quiet for a moment before she finally managed to pull the words from her throat.

“So, you want to start a band because you fell in love with a girl?” Vickie regretted it the moment she said it. Both Robin and Steve stiffened, glancing at each other. Eddie’s eyes widened as he observed and Vickie’s grip tightened on her lemonade glass. Curse her and her blunt ways of saying things.

Steve and Robin seemed to have a silent conversation before Robin sighed, her shoulders dropping.

“I’m..” Robin halted for a second, fidgeting. “Gay. Like, a Lesbian. I like girls, exclusively girls, as a girl. A girl who likes girls, and likes girls who like other girls usually, but sometimes I like girls who don’t like girls, and who like boys instead, and I don’t like boys, because I like girls, in a non-platonic, very Lesbian way, like-” Steve sighed as he put a hand on her shoulder, cutting her off from her nervous rant.

“Yeah, I think they got it, Robs.” He said, not unkindly. It was quiet for a while, maybe a few minutes before Eddie spoke up.

“Wow, that.. Was a lot.” He spoke carefully. Vickie nodded, trying to hide her shaking hands by setting her cup down on the island. Robin was also shaking, Steve’s hand never leaving her shoulder. It was odd to see, but something about their closeness made her think that he already knew. She realized she had been silent for a little too long.

“Robin,” She said. “I totally accept you, if that's what you’re worried about.” Robin lit up, her cheeks turning a little pink. Eddie nodded, emphatically.

“Totally!” He agreed, quickly. Steve smiled, bumping their shoulders together. “I told you.” He grinned before Robin shoved him away lightly. Vickie smiled. Maybe it wasn’t totally hopeless after all.

___

The whole ‘coming out’ thing had been a total accident, honestly. Robin’s slip up almost cost her everything, but in the end, she was glad she did it. Plus, she wasn’t totally oblivious to Vickie sneaking looks at her for the rest of the night, which was really just them talking. The band thing was a total go. Eddie actually liked the idea, and seemed to warm up to Steve just a little bit more.

Robin was totally happy, her cheeks aching from smiling so much, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. After a few drinks, Steve had loosened up a bit and after a lot of bullying from the other three, he had sung a little. It had left Vickie and Eddie in a state of shock before they showered him in compliments.

Eddie surprised everyone by agreeing to be the lead guitarist. When Robin had questioned it about not being his taste, he had said he wanted to ‘branch out’.

“What’s the point in playing an instrument if I’m only a one trick pony?”

Overall, the night went really well. Robin waved Vickie and Eddie off as the two left in their separate cars. She closed the door and leaned against it, sighing.

“Well, that went well.” Steve smiled, wrapping her in a hug. She hugged back, soaking in his heat. “Yeah, it really did.” She grinned.

Chapter Text

Leaving the Harrington house was a surprisingly hard thing to do, much to Eddie’s dissatisfaction. The night had gone surprisingly well, and hearing Harrington sing? Eddie swears his heart actually stopped beating at one point. Harrington had a nice speaking voice, everyone knew that, but his singing voice was so much better. When Robin told him Harrington could sing like an angel (Not exactly what she said, but she hinted at it), he had genuinely thought she was losing her mind, but he totally understood her now.

The coming out thing had also startled him. He didn’t actually know if Harrington and Robin were dating, he never really cared, but hearing that there was someone like him in this stupid hick town? Okay, obviously not exactly like him, but they both liked the same gender, albeit different genders, but still. The chances had to be at least one in a million. Eddie sighed as he pulled into the parking lot of his new, government-issued house, if you could even call it that. He pretty much fell asleep the second he walked into his room.

_____

Vickie didn’t actually remember driving back home. That was dangerous, right? She made it to her house safely, though, so it couldn’t have been too scary. Although everything was scary, always. There was always that 24/7 fear that never actually went away, a tight coil in her stomach. A shake in her hands, a tic here and there, and the overwhelming heat that crawled up her neck and dusted across her cheeks.

She shook her hands out as she climbed the stairs to her room, ignoring the feeling of the walls closing in on her. She fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the bed.

_____

“So, tonight didn’t totally suck.” Robin rolled her eyes, sitting down on the couch with her bowl of ice cream. Steve hummed. “Yeah?” He asked, looking up at her through his eyelashes. He was on the floor, writing down possible songs on a notepad.

Robin shrugged as she stuck a spoon in her mouth. “I mean, it wasn’t mortifyingly embarrassing.” She mumbled, the spoon sticking out of her mouth. Steve scrunched up his nose.

“First of all, gross. Second of all, I really think Vickie likes you.” He said, leaning down and grabbing his pencil to resume his earlier endeavor. Robin sputtered before smacking his shoulder.

“Shut up!” She shrieked.

“I’m serious!” Steve laughed. “So am I!” It continued like that for a bit before Robin had to head home. Steve sighed as he watched her car drive away, his head resting on the doorframe.

______

Sleeping that night was difficult. His mind was constantly working, words and phrases practically flowing through his skull. He groaned as he sat up and checked the time. 3:27.

Steve figured that there was no point in rotting away in bed all night when he couldn’t even sleep, so he got up. Even if he was able to fall asleep, the undoubted horrors that would plague his nightmares were something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible. He stretched as he walked down the stairs, eventually just meandering around the empty house for what felt like an hour, but was really only half. He sat down on his couch, his head in his hands.

He was so inexplicably bored. Usually, when he was bored, he would call someone. One of the kids, or Robin. They served as a good distraction from his thoughts, but at the end of the day, he always came back home to a cold and empty house. It sucked, but it was something that Steve was forced to get used to at a young age.

Now, though, he was stuck with his thoughts. The pool drew his eyes away from the carpet, the small light illuminating the light blue shine. Steve cringed. He had the sudden urge to sink into the cold water, see how long he could hold his breath. Would he drown? Die? He blinked and got up, quickly closing the patio curtains. Out of sight, out of mind, or something.

Or something.

Until the damn phone rang. Steve swore his heart stopped for a moment, his palms sweating. He crossed his living room and picked the phone up quickly, praying it wasn't one of the kids.

His prayers were not answered.

"Steve?" El whispered from the other end. Steve's eyes widened. He didn't even know El had his number!

"El?" He whispered back, confusion and worry lacing his tone. "Is something wrong? Are you hurt?" He heard some clacking on the other end before El spoke again.

"No, I am okay," She said. Steve let out a breath of relief. "I cannot sleep. I saw your number on the notepad Hop keeps on the table. I did not think you would be awake, I'm sorry." Steve raised an eyebrow. He thinks that that was the most he'd ever heard her talk before.

"No, you're fine, El," He reassured. "Just startled me a little. I was already awake." He heard her hum from the other end before silence. It was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again.

"I had a nightmare." Steve straightened up a little, feeling his back pop.

"Are you alright?" He asked, not sure what to do.

She hummed. "Yes, I think I am. I was back in the lab. With Pa- Brenner." She corrected herself. It was Steve's turn to hum.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe. I do not know how to." She admitted. Steve smiled a little.

"How did it make you feel?"

El thought for a moment, the clacking noise that sounded suspiciously like nails hitting a plastic surface returned. "Scared. There was lots of panic. Anger, I think. And worry. Definitely worry."

"Why worry?" Steve wondered, aloud, leaning against his wall. He thought he might know, but he wanted to give her the chance to tell him.

"I thought… that he was back," she whispered. "That he was alive. He would hurt my friends." Steve nodded.

"And why angry?"

"Because Brenner is a liar," she said, proudly. Steve snorted, shaking his head slightly. Hopper definitely told her that.

"And," she continued. "I thought he brought me back. To the lab. He had taken me again. That is why I was scared, too." Steve didn't know what to say, so he tried to stick to questions.

"Do you still feel scared?" He asked. It was quiet before El answered, sounding confident.

"No." She spoke. "Brenner is dead. He cannot come back. Not possible." Steve nodded.

"Talking… helped." El said, slowly. "Thank you, Steve. Goodnight." And then the phone clicked off.

Steve pulled it away from his ear, staring at the receiver, before shaking his head and setting it back onto the holder. 

Chapter Text

He woke up to the sound of his front door opening, the sound of soft footfalls echoing through the entryway. Steve groaned, not realizing he even fell asleep. He sat up from his place at the couch, rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to rid his muscles of the torturous knots that managed to accumulate during his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and stood up.

He wasn’t too worried about someone breaking into his house. Whoever had just come in had keys, so it was probably Robin or one of the kids.

Or his parents.

He pushed that thought away the second it came, walking into the hall. He was surprised to see El kicking off her shoes. Did she walk here?

“El?” He rasped, nearly wincing at how bad his voice was. He really needed to drink more water.

“Steven.” She responded, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Huh?” He asked eloquently.

“That’s your name, right?” She tilted her head, her still-growing curls framing her face. He blinked, not sure how to reply to that.

“It’s… It’s Stephan, actually.” He murmured in confusion.

“What’s the difference?”

“The… the p-h and… it doesn’t matter. What are you doing here? Does Hopper know you’re here?” He asked worriedly. He really didn’t want to get a frantic phone call from the chief of police. That would not improve his slowly worsening headache.

“Yes,” She nodded. “I told him.”

He snorted at the term ‘told’ instead of ‘ask’. She was a very direct person, and he admired that. Not many kids her age could do that. He wondered if it gave her a sense of freedom, to be able to tell people what she needed instead of begging for it.

“So, I’m not going to get a concerned call?” He crossed his arms.

El was quiet for a moment, just staring at him.

“Maybe.” She admitted. Steve sighed and ran his hands through his disheveled hair.

“Alright. C’mon,” He led her into the kitchen. “Have you eaten yet?”

“No.” She answered, toddling along after him. He kind of liked how her and the others followed him around like a pack of lost dogs, not that he’d ever tell the bastards. They’d never let him live that down, especially not Dustin, the asshole.

“Alright… do you want french toast or… something?” He felt a little awkward. He glanced at the clock on the living room side table. 9:28 AM. It was way too early for this. He loved these kids, but seriously, a bit of a break would be nice.

“Do you have waffles?” She asked, and he shrugged, pulling the freezer open.

“Uh, yeah,” He confirmed. “I always have waffles just for you, kiddo.” He pulled the yellow box from the freezer, ripping it open and popping two in the toaster. El watched from the kitchen island, her elbows rested on the marble, holding her cheeks in her hands.

“So, what exactly are you doing here?” He turned around to face her, leaning back against the counter. She was dressed casually in a yellow sweater and blue jeans. It was a good look on her, but not exactly appropriate for the current weather. Or maybe it was. He didn’t even know anymore. He had a feeling that somehow the upside down affected the climate or something, because it being in the mid forties during April was not normal.

“I wanted to see you,” She said. “and I’ve been bored.” Steve almost scoffed. She was bored?

“How are you bored when you’re constantly hanging around the others?” He asked, the toaster ticking in the background. “Are you finally over Dustin’s incessant rambling? Or Mike’s dumbass-ness?”

“I guess,” she shrugged. “It’s… different now. Lucas doesn’t talk all that much, and he spends all his time with Max, which is not bad, but she doesn’t want to hang out with us, either,” She admitted. “Dustin really only talks about D-and-D and Eddie, and Mike only really talks to Will.”

Steve smiled a little at the way she pronounced D&D, almost robotically.

“Well, you’re, uh.. Getting older, y’know? Sometimes, when you get older, the friends you had when you were younger move on,” He said. “It’s pretty normal, really.

“But I don’t want to move on,” She frowned. “I want things to stay the same.”

Steve sighed. He found that he was doing that quite a lot lately.

“Yeah, well, we don’t always get what we want.” He muttered. El looked like she wanted to say something else, but before she could, the waffles popped out of the toaster, startling both of them. Steve turned and grabbed a plate, using a kitchen towel to get the hot waffles out and setting them down, drizzling them with maple syrup, and grabbing a fork and knife before setting them down in front of El.

She looked down at them, but didn’t touch them. She looked back up at Steve with curious eyes.

“Are you and Robin going to move on?” She asked, and it was an innocent question, but it made Steve’s heart squeeze painfully. The thought of Robin moving on from him, growing out of their stupid jokes and going off to college where she would inevitably find better and, let’s be honest, more put together friends was his own little nightmarish hell. He wondered how they would keep in contact. Sure, he could call her and write her letters, but that didn’t mean she would respond.

He was sure that at some point she’d realize how useless it was to hang onto him, how he was dragging her down from becoming… Well, whatever it was that she wanted to be. She would stop answering his calls, stop replying to his letters, and before he knew it, they would be forty and have no idea what the other was doing with their life.

“No,” He shook his head. “That’s not going to happen to Robin and I. What we have.. It’s different.” He sounded so sure, but in reality, he really didn’t know, and that scared him.

“Love?” El asked, and Steve wanted to cry, because he really did love Robin. Not in that way, of course, but in the ‘you’re the closest thing I have to a sibling, and I just can’t let you go’ kind of way.

“Kind of,” He decided. “But not like the ‘you and Mike’ love. It’s more like the ‘you and Dustin’ love, y’know?”

“Friends.” She nodded. She understood. She loved Dustin, and Will, and Lucas, and Max, but not like the way she loved Mike. It was a different kind of love, but one just as important.

“Best friends.” Steve added on, watching as El, seemingly content with his answers, started eating her food.

—

Whenever the ringing in his ears got too loud, Steve would take a nap, but he couldn’t really take a nap with El over, so he elected to just lay on the couch with his eyes closed while she watched TV in his parent’s room.

El stared at the screen, a fast-food commercial playing. She glanced around the room. It wasn’t Steve’s room, she knew that much. She knew that he had a picture of a red car in his room, and there was no red car here.

In fact, there were no pictures at all. The walls were a bland off white, the bed comfortable, but unslept in. The blankets were also white with flower prints, the kinds you’d find in your grandmother’s bed. There was a small side table on either side of the bed, a walk-in closet, a window, a table at the end of the bed, against the wall with a TV on it, and a bathroom.

El wasn’t a snoop, but she was a curious fifteen year old girl, which was basically the same thing. She stood up, walking over to the closet and opening it.

Inside were a few suits that looked dusty, and a single off-white dress in a clear bag. Almost everything in the room was an awful shade of off-white. She looked through the nightstands, seeing a small bible, a few pens, and a single paperclip.

She didn’t know Steve was religious. There was a single crucifix in the hallway, but she didn’t really know what it meant. Her knowledge on religion was very limited. There was nothing in the bathroom, almost like it had been cleaned out. Whoever lived in this room hadn’t been here in a very long time.

She sat back down on the end of the bed just as the door opened. She turned and looked to see Steve peeking his head in.

“Robin and Eddie are here… if you want to say hi.” He murmured softly. He left again, leaving the door slightly cracked. El hesitated. She didn’t know Eddie at all. She’d talked to him once, briefly, in the hospital. He called her ‘Supergirl’. She liked Robin, although the girl was a bit loud, but then again, so were most of her other friends.

She got up and wandered through the hallway, making her way downstairs.

Eddie was sitting at the island, Robin poking around in the fridge as Steve tried to close the door on her head. She was holding it open with her hand, straining just a little. It was clear that Steve wasn’t really trying, although El had no doubt that Robin could hold him back if he was. She seemed like a strong girl.

“Hey, Supergirl!” Eddie grinned, being the first to notice her. She smiled at him, although it was small, hesitant. She didn’t really know how to interact with him. She gave him a small wave instead of speaking.

Robin stuck her head up, narrowly avoiding hitting it on the fridge shelf.

“Hey, El!” She greeted, her raspy voice carrying through the kitchen with a practiced ease. She practically lived here, so it wasn’t a surprise that she was so comfortable. Eddie seemed less so, his shoulders a little tense, his fingers twitching as if itching to do something. Probably play the guitar. Dustin had told her all about his Upside-Down concert while they were being checked out in the lab hospital.

“Hi.” She responded, a little more comfortable around her. Steve smiled encouragingly at her, but she couldn’t find it in her to return it.

“Sorry if we were too loud.” Steve apologized, and El just shook her head.

“It is your home.” She pointed out.

“It’s yours too. Whenever you want, that is.” And then Steve turned around to help Robin grab something as if what he said wasn’t just the biggest shock to El’s system, not that she outwardly showed it.

“Yo, Supergirl,” Eddie caught her attention once again, and she went over, taking the stool next to him. “We’re starting a band.”

El tilted her head slightly.

“A band?”

“Yeah, y’know, a group of people who make music?”

“I know what a band is.”

“Oh.. great!”

“I thought you were already in a band?” El furrowed her eyebrows, and Eddie looked a little sheepish.

“Well, yeah, but we’re on a break. Plus, you can be in multiple bands at once.” He said. Steve snorted.

“I thought there would be some kind of rule against that. Isn’t that a betrayal?” He teased, a can of soda in his hand. Eddie just smirked.

“It’s only a betrayal if you’re a dick about it, Harrington.”

El caught the little shiver that went through Steve, and she wondered if it was cold by the fridge.

“What’s it called?” She asked, turning back to Eddie. “Your band.”

It was silent for a moment. They hadn’t actually agreed on a name yet. Robin mentioned that one name, but Steve had already forgotten it. Robin, ever the eloquent speaker, blurted out the first thing that came to mind, desperate to end the awkward, all-consuming silence.

“TV Girl!” She said, all eyes turning to her. She flushed. “Yeah, It’s called… It's called TV Girl.”