#noonque

"You're looking good. What movie do you want to watch?" Robin called from her stack.

"I don't know, Cinderella, maybe?"

"Hey, everything alright? You took a while. " Robin asked as she continued rummaging through the tapes.

"Yeah, I went to check on Steve and his parents are home and it took a while. " Nancy responded awkwardly enough for Robin to take note. She stood up and leaned on the counter between herself and Nancy.

"Okay, what's wrong? He never talks to me about them." Robin was trying not to pry, but Steve was always so reserved about them. She'd never thought to ask Nance. She looked at her girlfriend as she took a deep breath. "I thought they liked you?" Robin prompted.

"They like me fine, they don't like Steve." Nancy finally huffed out. She looked at the floor, unsure if she should continue. When she had first found out how poorly the older boy's parents treated him she wanted to tell the whole town. Steve had to beg Nancy to keep it a secret.

"I don't like you keeping things from me," Robin leaned to catch Nancy's eye, "but if you really for some reason can't say it, I won't force you."

"It's just, I mean you had to have noticed all the, his scars. And like, his hearing?" Nancy stuttered out what she could, trying not to make herself cry or feel like she was betraying her ex. Robin could hear the strain in her voice.

"Nance, is this something other people don't know?" Robin asked carefully, grabbing her partners hands across the counter. Nancy took in a gaspy breath and nodded.

"He made me promise not to tell anyone. I couldn't, I don't want to make his, I don't know, what would happen to him." She got out between breaths.

"It's okay, hey, I know, so it's not just you anymore. We can help him out." Robin felt herself scrambling to comfort her. Nancy and Steve always talked happily about their time dating if it ever came up, stating mutual differences as their reason for not working out. Robin knew they loved each other.

"No! You can't tell anyone. Steve made me promise." Nancy started panicking, "you haven't met his dad but he's tall and-"

"Woah woah, Nance, I'm not gonna tell anyone." Robin quickly interrupted her spiral, "I mean we can check on him and convince him to get like glasses." The smaller woman immediately sat down on the chair behind the counter and huffed at Robin.

"He's fine, and it'll be fine. He's at my place sleeping now. Are we going to eat?" Nancy took a deep breath and changed the topic. There was no point getting worked up over Steve's parents, they'd be out of town again soon enough. Robin gladly dove into a discussion about which restaurants in town were the best to eat at, referencing a chart she had made while working that day.

"You're an absolute nerd." Nancy chuckled when Robin pulled out the chart and started explaining it.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to make sure you like where you're eating." She replied.

"I was just thinking the diner." Nancy said and Robin shook her head. She smiled and listened quietly to her girlfriend as she rambled about the different pros and cons of each place. If Robin ever decided to focus on something, no matter how random, she would be on it for hours. It was always cute. Robin kept talking but stuttered when Nancy reached for her hand.

Steve woke with a start, flashes of demobats, vecna, and demogorgons replayed as he fought to catch his breath. Eddie, Barb, Nancy, Robin, Dustin, were all stuck to the ceiling when he shut his eyes. /they're not there/ Steve thought harshly to himself /they made it out, we made it out/.

As the panic edged away he realized he was still in Nancy's room, the golden light of the evening sun coming through the window. Steve found the note Nancy had left for him and switched his radio on.

"This is Harrington, seeing what's up, over." Steve laughed as he spoke into the receiver. When it wasn't an end of the world scenario, it made him feel childish to be using a walkie talkie.

"Hello, Hair, this is Eddie the Revived, you should come over, over." Eddie's voice rang through clearly, making Steve smile. He got up, grabbed Eddie's jacket and ran downstairs to get his keys and head over.

Eddie was standing in the center of his small living room, debating how he was going to get Steve to talk. He had beers out, a bowl packed, and joints rolled and hell, he could get something stronger if that's what Steve needed. Nancy had said after Steve left the other night that she was worried about him. Eddie could remember more than a handful of times Steve had come to school with bruises or strange limps in years past.

"Someone needs to talk to him." Nancy had said the second Harrington had pulled out of the park.

"Wheeler, we've all been through it since the world ending. You've been through just as much as he has." Eddie sighed, thinking Steve would just want to be left alone.

"You don't know anything about his parents, so I'll give you a pass, but he's been through a lot more than you think." She bit back. Eddie didn't bother trying to argue with her about it, they were both drunk and Robin was asleep on Nancy's lap anyway.

But now Harrington was coming over. Nancy had radioed saying she checked on Steve and she didn't want him alone too long, and asked Eddie to try talking to him. So here he was, trading out the beers once again with cold ones from the fridge as he waited nervously for Steve. What were they even supposed to talk about?

Eddie was broken from his thoughts when he heard Steve park in front of his house. He tried to look casual as he opened the door to greet his friend. Steve had a smile on his face but it wasn't enough to hide the exhausted look in his eyes. Eddie handed him a beer as they sat down together on the couch.

"Is it uh, just us?" Steve tried not to sound too interested in the idea of hanging out with Eddie alone, even though the thought was making his palms sweaty.

"Yeah, for now. The ladies may stop by when they're done bumping at Family Video." Eddie laughed as he kicked his feet up on the coffee table. Steve chuckled awkwardly and glanced at the TV. Did Robin tell him she was dating Nancy? "Feel free to pick out whatever." Eddie invited him after a moment.

Steve moved over to the piles of tapes beside the television and in boxes next to the couch. He was surprised at the variety in Eddie's collection. Horror movies, action he expected but there were also a ton of westerns, rom coms, and even some chick flicks. Maybe some were Wayne's? After carefully examining a few options he settled on The Breakfast Club, pressing play before going back to his spot on the couch.

"Good choice" Eddie flashed a smile at Steve that made him melt. He was suddenly very aware of how cold the beer was in his hands, and quickly set it down so he didn't drop it.

They sat in relative silence for the first 20 minutes of the movie. Eddie couldn't think of a way to try and get Steve to talk. He couldn't just be like "Hey Steve, Nancy says you're traumatized and need to talk to someone" right? Still thinking it over, he reached forward and grabbed the bong off the table to start it before handing it off to Steve.

"So, what's been up lately?" Eddie finally forced out after a few passes of the piece. Steve stiffened slightly, taking another hit while he thought of what to say.

"I've just been, you know, house sitting for my parents and, uh, yeah, not a lot going on but, busy... kinda." He fumbled over his lie and felt himself blush, when he glanced at Eddie he couldn't read his expression. Fuck, it wasn't working.

"Steve, I'm gonna level with you. Nancy, Robin, we're all worried about you, man. I'm not gonna try and force you to open up or whatever. If you want to sit here and just watch TV and smoke that's cool. But I'm also here, Steve, and I'll listen to you, and nothing will leave these walls." Eddie leaned forward with a serious look on his face, making sure Steve was paying attention. There was less than a foot of space between them now. Steve couldn't decide what to do next. Some small part of him wanted to lean forward pull Eddie to him and shut them both up. There was so much he wanted to ramble about, but what if Eddie decided he was crazy and never talked to him again? What if this ruins his one good thing right now? He can't lose the Munson's. Wayne's trailer had become Steve's safe place, but he was worried that would be ruined if he started talking.

"Hey, Stevie." Eddie placed his hand on Steve's, pulling him away from the spiral. "If you're going to freak yourself out about spilling your guts to me, don't do it. It's just that Nancy mentioned you needing to relax."

"Of course she did." Steve half sighed as he tried to relax a little. It was sweet of Eddie to try and take off any pressure to talk. He sat quiet a moment while he thought, pulling his hand away.

"It's not that I don't want to talk." Steve finally admitted, causing Eddie's head to snap in his direction. "I really just have no idea where to start, Eds. Sometimes I'm pretty sure I made half of it up. Like I'm lying." He continued to stare at his hands in his lap. He couldn't bear to see the pity on Eddie's face.

"I'm not worried about how much of it you're sure is true. " Eddie replied evenly, "I just want to hear how it's been for you, saving the world so many times. It doesn't even have to be in order." Steve finally glanced up and saw nothing but serious sincerity on the boy's face.

"Can I get another beer?" Steve shyly asked, feeling himself smile at the wave of acceptance he felt. Before he could get up, Eddie had jumped up and grabbed the bottle. He came back with two cold beers and a Batman lunchbox, opening the drinks first.

Steve noticed quickly the lunchbox was Eddie's stash container. He studied Eddie's ringed hands as he pulled out a few baggies and a grinder to refill the bowl. One was white and off to the side, and Eddie didn't actually touch it while he was packing. The other was a small amount of weed.

"I have some other stuff here. If you're interested." Eddie mumbled as he started to roll a joint with the extra product in the bag. Steve tried not to make a disgusted face, it wasn't that Eddie had them, he knew Eddie was a dealer. It was just...

"I don't really uh, consume, most of the time. Not since the Russians really." Steve shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Eddie immediately placed the not-weed back in the box and closed it with one hand.

"My bad. I don't have to have that around." He immediately apologized without looking up from the paper he was rolling. Eddie didn't even seem to notice how strange Steve felt with all this. With him it just felt casual.

"It's cool, it's just they kinda gave me and Robin something and it was not a great trip." Steve tried to lighten the mood. It was not working

"That sounds, fucking terrifying, honestly. You've been interrogated by Russians?" Eddie finally broke his cool demeanor, setting the joint on the table and turning to face Steve.

"Yeah, under the mall. In a secret bunker where they were opening a gate to the upside down." He replied.

.

"That's fucking crazy!" Despite this being traumatizing to Steve, they both seemed to laugh at how wild the thought was.

Steve found himself telling Eddie details he had never dared repeat to himself about the StarCourt fight. At first he tried to stick to the lighthearted things, like how he and Robin fell over while tied to chairs. Every now and then Eddie would stifle a face and ask a question, causing Steve's description to get a little darker.

"Well, you know, I was only seeing out of one eye and hallucinating at this point, but it's funny-"

"Steve, why could you only see out of one eye?" Eddie interrupted, trying to sound calm but failing.

"Oh, they beat the shit out of me." This time instead of laughing, Steve felt his voice crack. Something about Eddie's expression finally broke him. "I-I thought I was going... I was sure it was over." He took in a shaky breath as he felt Eddie's hand on his shoulder.

"You're a tough mother fucker, Harrington." He said as he watched Steve run a hand through his hair.

"Eddie?"

"Yeah?" Eddie reached for the joint he'd rolled and pulled a lighter out of his pocket.

"Can I stay here tonight?"

Eddie blew smoke out and handed the joint over.

"Anytime."