TW: Some swearing, hurt/comfort, small amount of angst, some tension.
I chew the pen cap and write down what feels like the millionth name on the list of Family Video customers who said they wanted to be members of a rental movie rental club with perks. I grumble because there could have been a better way than doing it by hand. We weren’t so out of touch with new technology. We had a computer. Keith just gave me a task he didn’t want to do himself. I shake the stiffness out of my hand and sigh. He should have asked Steve to do it. But Steve and Robin convinced him to let them leave work a few hours a day to volunteer with town relief efforts. After the “earthquake”.
I hear the bells jingle on the door, looking up and hoping it’s a customer. A welcome distraction to my mind numbing task. But it’s not. Robin and Steve walk in, apparently having one of their usual heated conversations. I roll my eyes and glance back down at the paper in front of me. Well at least with them here, I can do something else. Maybe go to the back and rewind tapes. Anything to take me out of this for a while. Robin bounds over to me and puts her head on my shoulder.
“Didn’t we leave you doing this same exact thing?”
“I’d rather go to the back and rewind tapes. Give my hand a break and I can at least zone out a bit waiting for them to finish. But Keith told me someone has to be at the front at all times.”
“I think Steve already went back there to do that.”
“Ugh, of course he would.”
“Feel free to go back there with him, if you want.
“He’s really not that bad. Surely you’ve seen that for the last couple years we’ve all worked together.”
“Please don’t give me the ‘Steve’s a good guy’ speech again. As if I don’t know what he’s done. Until I see the Vecna thing or whatever, sounds like you both have been around Wheeler’s kid brother and his friends too much.”
“Just be grateful you haven’t.”
I get off the stool behind the counter and make a couple laps before Robin steps in front of me.
“I’ll take over list duties. Grab some lunch or something.”
“Yeah. I guess I could do that.”
I take off my Family Video vest and grab my jacket. My jeans and off the shoulder t-shirt finally out of the confines of that hideous thing. I tug at my ponytail and let my auburn hair flow back to my shoulders and check my watch.
“I’m going to grab and sammy at Al’s. You want anything?”
“Nah, I’m good. See you soon.”
I walk down the block and grab my usual. I head back to the store, a sandwich in one hand and a soda in the other. More and more places have signs saying they’re going out of business or already closed with darkened windows. I throw my wrapper away, sip my drink, and walk to the back. Robin is with a customer, so she barely registers that I came in.
When I go to the back room, Steve sits in a chair in front of the old TV, hands through his hair and feet kicked up. He glances up at me and I raise my eyebrows.
“Real hard job you got there, Harrington.”
“What crawled up your ass, Evie?”
“Being stuck here with you.”
He tugs a hand through his hair.
“We don’t have to fight like this.”
“Last I checked, this isn’t even a fight. You’re just annoying.”
“By what? Looking at you?”
I take a sip of my drink, the straw on my lips before he decides to fire back.
“Not so sassy when your mouth’s busy. Glad for a moment of peace.”
I glare and shove his feet off the table.
“You know, I don’t know why you hate me so much. I thought that we were even friends at one point.”
“I think you’re delusional. I put up with you for Nancy’s sake. And we see how THAT panned out.”
“You basically stopped talking to her not long after…”
“The Christmas you got Jonathan a new camera. The one YOU broke.”
He rubs the back of his neck.
“I made it up to him. Both of them. Nancy and I didn’t work. We won’t ever work, I guess.”
I bite down the urge to say more. He normally would be upset that Nancy ended up choosing Jonathan over him. But he doesn’t this time. Odd.
Jonathan is a good guy. He and his family just moved back here from California. Joyce and Hopper being an item after she basically brought him back from the dead.
Hopper is more or less my dad. El, I would say she was like a sister but because I’m a few years older, she prefers the company of her friends her age. But we’re all getting a little older now. So she’s our secret. And she and Hopper know mine.
Steve’s eyes don’t get that far away look like he misses her. I guess he was over her. My heart jumps a little. I clear my throat.
“Yeah. Jonathan’s a good guy for forgiving you. What’s new?”
He takes a tape out and replaces it with another one.
“I am too, if you’d give me a chance.”
Our eyes lock a moment, giving him no reason to believe that I didn’t hear him. I grab at my hair to distract myself from having to say anything. He watches me and walks over to stand in front of me. I miss a strand and he lifts it with a finger.
He stands at least six or more inches taller than me. The jock with the perfect hair and once king of Hawkins High. Then he gave it up. Since I was never popular, it’s not like I had anything to lose when he started talking to me more. People thought it was because, more so after Nancy and him did break up, he was trying to add all the unpopular girls to his list of conquests. Just to show off he can still get any girl he wanted no matter if she was popular or not. Then there was the summer he couldn’t get a date for a while because of it. I didn’t want to be on someone’s waiting list. I shake myself out of the memory and back to now.
I take a step back and my hair falls from his finger.
I snatch it back up and walk away. It’s easier to think when he’s not giving me such undivided attention.
Because I used to have a big, fat crush on Steve Harrington. But hating him is easier.
At the end of the shift, Robin leaves first. She opted to walk home instead of getting a ride from Steve. He twirls his keys on his finger since I didn’t bring mine with me so he can lock up. I think it’s going to be a quiet night before I try to crank my car. It doesn’t even turn over. Just great.
“Hey, asshole. Do you have jumper cables in that BMW or just girls’ underwear?”
He rolls his eyes and opens his trunk.
“Neither. You offering one of them?”
He says something I don’t catch.
“Speak up, Stevie boy. I’m a big girl. Share with the class.”
“I said I can give you a ride home.”
“I’d rather walk and have blisters on my feet.”
“Look, isn’t Hop out somewhere with Joyce? I can give you a ride.”
He actually pays some attention. Friday night is his date night with Joyce. I huff out of annoyance.
We head to my little rental that I got when someone left it instead of staying in Hawkins after the cracks in town happened. It’s small, a little ways from the center of town that’s backed into part of the woods. We’re nearly there when something darts in front of his car. Steve slams his brakes and swears.
“What the hell was that, Harrington?!”
“That wasn’t a damn deer!”
He gets out of the car, going back to his trunk again. When he comes back to my side of his car, I see he’s got a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. He gives it a twirl with a bit of flourish. I’d normally taunt him with it, but I’m freaking out a little bit. All their talk of monsters must be messing with my head. I roll down the window.
“It was nothing, Harrington. Get back into the car.”
“Not so big and bad are you, Evie?”
Steve turns to get back into the car and throws the bat into the backseat. We drive the rest of the way in silence. As soon as we pull in, Steve gets out and walks me up to my door.
“Making sure you get inside safely.”
“I’m fine, Steve. Go back home.”
“Can I come inside? I need to write something down.”
I let us both inside and grab the pen and paper by her phone on the end table. Steve quickly writes something down and throws the pad at me.
“That’s my phone number. Call me if you need anything.”
“I didn’t appoint you my protector.”
“You don’t have to like it. But even if YOU think it’s nothing. Call me. I don’t care what for, I’ll be right here.”
“For once in your life Evelyn Harris, just do as you're told.”
I snap my mouth shut. He looks at me and awkwardly runs his thumb over my cheek before making a quick exit out of my door. I’m left just wondering what that was.
I take a shower and turn on my radio. And it’s Robin’s second job. It helps it be less quiet. I reach for what I thought was my towel when I finish. But my fingers only touch air. I slip on the tub a little and twist my ankle.
I move to stand and it hurts. Bad. I really don’t want to call 911. I’m naked, wet, and annoyed. But there’s always…
I stand up on my other leg and hobble to my phone.
“Do I look like a doctor, Harrington?!”
I waddle to the couch and sit back down. I have my blanket that was on the couch draped over me so I’m not totally naked. I lift my leg and inspect it. Nothing is poking out or protruding. I poke it.
“Then don’t do it, dummy.”
I hide under the blanket. As much as possible.
“I… uh… yeah. Just don’t get all handsy on me.”
“Share with the class. Isn’t that what you told me earlier?”
“Just let me see your ankle. Scoot.”
I move over and let him sit next to me.
“Well? Am I going to have to look for it under there or are you going to give me your leg?”
I peek out and stick my leg out, careful not to show him more. He’s surprisingly gentle. He pushes on it a little.
“Calm down. I didn’t do it on purpose to hurt you. It’s not broken. It’s twisted pretty bad. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”
“Have you eaten anything?”
“Where are you going? Steve?”
He walks out the front door. And about 30 minutes later he’s back. He’s got a brown bag in his teeth and other stuff in his hands.
“I got us a couple cheeseburgers, ice cream, an ice pack for your ankle, and a couple movies.”
“I’m going to put the ice cream and the ice pack in the freezer.”
He comes back out with paper plates.
“I need to get dressed. I’ll be more comfortable.”
“Ok. What do I need to do?”
“Just make sure I don’t fall on my face.”
I stand carefully and keep the blanket around me tight. He puts an arm around me to support me.
“Easy does it. I got you. Put some of your weight on me. If you want, I can carry you.”
“That would be humiliating.”
“You twisted your ankle and now you’re naked and wrapped in a blanket. I think we’re past that.”
“No. You don’t have to carry me.”
We hobble to my room and see my pajamas laid out in my bed. Just an oversized shirt and panties. I don’t usually have company so it was minimal.
“What? So you can bust your ass, too?”
“Just sit on the bed and let me use your shoulders to stand and move. But don’t peek!”
“Calm down. It’s not like I’ve not seen a naked woman before.”
“Oh hell. Of that I am WELL aware.”
But he listens. He closes his eyes and I grab my panties. I let the blanket drop and slide one leg into one and try to do the other using Steve’s shoulders to support my weight.
“Look, you already hate me. Why would me seeing you naked change that? Clearly you’re having a hard time.”
I grumble and say a few extra four letter words.
“Fine. But if you tell ANYONE. I’ll break your nose again, Harrington.”
“Oof. That was a low blow.”
“Well, do you agree or not?”
“Fine. You can open your eyes.”
My hand is still one his shoulder, and aside from the panties around my bad ankle, I’m bare. He sucks in a deep breath.
“Keep your arms over my shoulders. I’m going to bend to pull these up, ok?”
His fingers touch my legs again and make their way up. I get goosebumps everywhere he fingers go. I suppress the shiver and he keeps his eyes locked on mine. He stands, but I still need more clothes on. Even though I can do this part on my own, he still takes my shirt off the bed. He slips it over my head, and I push my arms through the holes.
His voice is just barely above a whisper.
He puts his arm under mine again so we can go back to the couch.
“Just sit down. I’ll take care of it, ok?”
He hands me a plate of food and sets up a movie.
“I… uh… it’ll probably feel better by morning?”
“Maybe. And if it doesn’t, I’ll be here.”
“You don’t have to do this. I make your life hell.”
“I’ve been to hell. This ain’t it.”
He runs his hand through his hair.
“Yeah. I thought you didn’t believe us.”
“I mean, what else could change you overnight?”
“Well if it makes any difference, I’m proud of you.”
He looks from the TV screen to me, and he’s fighting something in that stare.
“No one’s ever said that to me.”
I don’t know how to respond so I let it hang there in silence.
I don’t remember when, but I drift off to sleep.
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