By The Pricking of My Thumb

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/44636476.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington,
Eleven | Jane Hopper & Steve Harrington
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Corroded Coffin (Stranger Things),
Robin Buckley, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Jim "Chief" Hopper
Additional Tags: Not Beta Read, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate
Universe - Different First Meeting, Not Canon Compliant, Season/Series
02, Stranger Things Book: Rebel Robin, Don't Have to Know Book
Canon, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington
Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve
Harrington, idiots to lovers, Mutual Pining, Robin Buckley & Steve
Harrington Are Best Friends, Past Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler,
Steve Harrington Has Powers, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst with a
Happy Ending, Past Child Abuse, Additional Warnings In Author's Note,
Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parental Jim "Chief" Hopper
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2023-01-29 Updated: 2023-03-26 Words: 15,535 Chapters:
2/?
 By The Pricking of My Thumb
by louderswine

Summary

Sitting on the supply box, Steve twisted the cigarette between his fingers as he waited,
freezing his ass off in the middle of the snow-covered forest in the meantime. He’d heard the
stories of the Russian chick living in the woods stealing coats and eating squirrels. While he
hadn’t met her, Steve thought they might be talking about Eleven, a psychic girl raised in a
lab. The feds had searched the woods with a fine-toothed comb, so it was more likely that it
was hunters spouting tall tales after being out in the wilderness for too long. Steve hoped it
was El, though, and maybe that was why he was out here despite the sightings being only
rumors.

Steve took another drag of his cigarette and looked up into the bare tree, focusing on the
icicles hanging off one of the distant branches. He tried to clear his mind as he recalled the
events that led him here. Everything unofficially started when he developed a crush on Nancy
Wheeler. But officially? It was when he’d goaded Jonathan into that fist fight.

Or: After Jonathan bashed Steve's head into the pavement, Steve remembered he had powers,
setting off a chain reaction from Nancy breaking up with him early to certain enemies
showing up sooner than expected.
 December 10th, 1983
Chapter Notes

Hello! First, I'd like to say that this fic wasn't beta read, but I read over it a million
times, so I hope that I didn't miss anything. Additionally, I'd like to thank APuckish_Wit
because I wouldn't have posted this unless she encouraged me. It's been a long time
since I posted any fan fiction. Please be gentle with me! I'm trying my best.

Btw, the Macbeth title quote will make more sense in the second chapter.

TW: Nosebleeds, talk of previous child experimentation but it's not explicit, Steve has a
slight panic attack towards the end of the chapter

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Sitting on the supply box, Steve twisted the cigarette between his fingers as he waited,
freezing his ass off in the middle of the snow-covered forest in the meantime. He’d heard the
stories of the Russian chick living in the woods stealing coats and eating squirrels. While he
hadn’t met her, Steve thought they might be talking about Eleven, a psychic girl raised in a
lab. The feds had searched the woods with a fine-toothed comb, so it was more likely that it
was hunters spouting tall tales after being out in the wilderness for too long. Steve hoped it
was El, though, and maybe that was why he was out here despite the sightings being only
rumors.

Steve took another drag of his cigarette and looked up into the bare tree, focusing on the
icicles hanging off one of the distant branches. He tried to clear his mind as he recalled the
events that led him here. Everything unofficially started when he developed a crush on Nancy
Wheeler. But officially? It was when he’d goaded Jonathan into that fist fight.

What he hoped to accomplish by provoking Jonathan to beat the ever-loving shit out of him
was still beyond Steve’s reasoning. If he had to hazard a guess, he’d say it had to be his
inferiority complex coupled with his innate desire for punishment in an attempt to absolve
him of his guilty conscience. Steve knew he wasn’t a king no matter what everyone said, that
saying mean shit was all a cover to hide how vulnerable he truly was, so getting Jonathan to
use his face for boxing practice seemed to be what the doctor ordered in more ways than one.

As Steve’s head repeatedly smashed against the pavement behind the theater, memories had
been shaken loose. He remembered being in a white playroom with a rainbow on the door,
which was eventually upgraded to one with several bright rainbows painted across the walls
and floor. He remembered being tied to a chair and forced to watch movies that would
eventually turn into memories. He remembered limbs being surgically removed from his
body then reattached. He remembered beatings and weapons training. He remembered that
Steven Harrington was made-up so they could run tests without his knowledge. He
remembered they used to call him Seven.

Everything was played on fast forward after that. Steve first went to apologize, maybe even
thank Jonathan since he wouldn’t have remembered his past without his help. Then there was
Nancy aiming the gun at him, and he feared that she was with HNL somehow, that his
relationship with her was a fake as his parents. And who could forget the flickering
Christmas lights or the fucking Demogorgon that showed up a few seconds later. Oh, and
Nancy chased him out of the house since it was dangerous for him there.

Steve had been scared, so he had gone willingly. Even at the lab, he’d never seen anything
like that monster. He then went back despite his fear and beat the shit out of the thing too
until it gnawed off its own foot to escape the bear trap after Jonathan set it ablaze. They lost
track of it afterwards, but from what he heard, it had gone to the middle school and chewed
off Brenner’s face. The feds said the sick bastard was dead, but Steve would believe it when
he saw the body himself.

After that, the NDAs came and the roundabout questions so they could figure out if Steve
was aware of his powers. Steve lied, of course, since he wasn’t as stupid as they thought he
was. He knew if he didn’t then he’d be strapped to a chair and brainwashed again. They did
slip-up though, as they asked him about Eleven’s location. He hadn’t known El escaped. He
really didn’t know anything about the lab after they turned him into Steven. It had made him
want to find her even if it risked revealing his hand to the feds.

So... now here he sat for- Steve checked his watch- two-and-a-half hours. Steve figured he
was in the right place because it was eerily quiet, and he hadn’t seen a squirrel since arriving
at the supply box. Still, the waiting was getting to him, causing goosebumps to raise on the
back of his neck the longer he sat there.

“Take those old records off the shelf,” he sang under his breath to fill the silence. “I sit and
listen to ‘em by myself. Today’s music ain’t got the same soul. I like that old time rock ‘n’
roll.”

Steve had memorized that song, spent weeks practicing, since he knew Nancy liked Tom
Cruise. It was a stupid thing to do, but he’d liked her. He really, really liked her, thought
maybe he could even love her if given enough time. That hadn’t been in the cards since they
broke up the day after the Demogorgon fight when he’d taken her out to eat at Enzo’s as a
way of celebrating that they were somehow still alive.

At the time, Steve had thought he was lucky that Nancy had agreed to go out with him. He
knew different now. She’d only said yes because she knew she should say yes rather than that
she truly wanted to be with him. Nancy had said as much in the middle of the main course.
Maybe she’d sensed him pull away after he got his memories of the lab back and thought that
he felt the same aversion to normal as she did, so it was okay for the two of them to go their
separate ways. It hadn’t been. It left Steve heartbroken, but if she wanted out, who was he to
force her to stay?

“Don’t try to take me to a disco. You’ll never even get me out on the floor. In ten minutes, I’ll
be late for the door. I like that old time-”
Snap.

The sound made him quickly glance over his shoulder. Steve had been expecting to see a deer
or a rabbit, except it wasn’t. El stood silently behind him, staring at him with apprehension.
She looked cold in her messy pink dress even with the oversized hat and coat that obviously
didn’t belong to her. He wished he could tell what she was thinking, that would be an
awesome power to have instead of mind shielding, but he had to work with what was given to
him.

“Hey, El,” Steve said with a small smile, hoping to put her at ease. “The kids have been
worried about you.”

El’s eyes narrowed. “I know who you are.”

“You do?”

“Mike told me about you.” She nodded resolutely. “You are Nancy’s asshole boyfriend.”

Steve was going to murder Mike Wheeler once he got his hands on him. Mike must’ve
warned her about him while she was staying in the Wheeler family’s basement. Probably
saying all bad crap so she wouldn’t approach him if Steve visited Nancy while Mike wasn’t
home. Steve didn’t know why Mike didn’t trust him besides that maybe he’d heard about
Steve’s reputation. Steve had honestly wanted to do right by Nancy this time around, though
he guessed that didn’t matter in the long run to the moody preteen.

“Ex-boyfriend,” he corrected.

“Why are you here?” she asked, distrust marring her tone. “Are you with the bad men?”

“No. God no. I’d never work with them. Not ever.”

El glared at him, not that Steve blamed her. He looked a lot different from the last time he
saw her. Four years had passed since he’d left the lab for reasons he’d yet to remember. Steve
had gone through puberty, hit a growth spurt, developed more muscle mass, and regrew his
hair. It was only natural that she didn’t recognize him right away.

“Here,” Steve said. “Maybe this will jog your memory.”

Steve snuffed out his cigarette against the supply box then threw the butt into the snow. From
what Steve remembered, his main power was cellular manipulation. It meant he could fiddle
with his cells to make them regenerate faster or strengthen them at his choosing. That made
tattooing him almost impossible because his body would break down the pigments faster than
normal, causing a new tattoo to turn ancient in a matter of weeks and vanish in a month.
Also, the tests they ran to find his limits were brutal and not something he wished to repeat in
front of El.

As he didn’t have a tattoo and wouldn't injure himself to show her his other powers, he
instead held out his hand, concentrating on lifting the cigarette. It’d been years since he used
his telekinesis, and even then, he sucked at it, only able to move the stupid metal ball through
the maze. The cigarette had barely lifted an inch off the ground before blood was streaming
down his nose, and his hand was shaking violently.

“You- You are like me,” she said in wonder.

Panting, Steve dropped the cigarette then used his sleeve to wipe the blood off his face. The
scientists always theorized that the reason his telekinesis was shit was because his mind
shielding caused a barrier even around his own powers. He wasn’t a scientist, so he wasn’t
certain if what they said was true. All he knew was that it drained him each time he tried to
lift an object into the air like he did now.

“Now do you remember me?”

El shook her head. “No.”

“Damn.” Steve sighed. “Though, to be fair, I didn’t remember you up until a few weeks ago
either. In the lab, they called me Seven. Out here, I’m Steven Harrington. Seven with a ‘t.’
Clever, huh? Not that I came up with it. You can just call me Steve, though.”

“Steve is Seven.”

“Yeah, we’re finally on the same page. I’ve missed you and the others so much. I’m really
glad that I get to see at least one of you guys again.”

“Others?” she asked, clearly confused.

“The other numbers. You know, Two though Eighteen. Since regaining my memory, I’ve
been really worried about them. So, how are they?”

“No others.” El frowned. “Only me.”

A pit formed in Steve’s stomach as something flashed in his mind. Blood, lots of blood.
Bodies everywhere. Then, as quickly as it came, the memory was gone. Like forgetting
where he put his keys, Steve knew the memory existed, but he couldn’t picture the last time
he’d seen it, leaving a blank spot in its place.

“And Brenner hasn’t mentioned them at all? Not one of them?” Steve asked, hoping that he
didn’t sound as worried as he felt.

El’s brow furrowed with confusion. “No. Papa only talks about tests.”

“Ah... Well, they’re probably fine. I bet they were moved to a different facility or
something.”

Steve honestly didn’t believe that, and El didn’t seem to either from the skeptic gaze she
leveled at him. Both of them knew the truth as Brenner wouldn’t have moved Steve off site or
chased after El as hard as he did if there were more experiments around. It was most likely
safe to assume that Steve was the only one they had left now that El had escaped the lab, too.
“Or I guess they could be like me, being independently experimented on,” Steve confessed,
forcing himself to remain positive. “I know they’re still watching me, so I can’t escape like
you did, but I guess that’s why I’m here. Why I had to find you. I have some money saved
up. It should be enough to get you out of-”

“I won’t leave Mike,” El interrupted stubbornly.

“El, you don’t understand. I’d kill to be in your position, to be able to walk away without
having to worry about anyone forcibly dragging you back. You could be free of this place.”

That seemed to at least give her pause as she pursed her lips in thought. She reached over to
grab at the sleeve of Steve’s jacket, fingers twisting tightly into the fabric. Steve hated the
small part of himself that envied her, that despite being through so much, she had an
opportunity that he would never have thanks to the lab being integrated into nearly every
aspect of his life. It was no wonder his parents always knew when he threw a party, even
when he was alone, they were still watching him and his every mistake.

“I-” she started then cut herself off with a sharp inhale. “I do not know where I would go. I
have never been outside the lab. Anything beyond Hawkins scares me.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Steve placed his hand over hers. “If you ever change your mind or
figure out where to go, let me know, okay? I’ll help you get there.”

“Yes, okay,” she said, nodding shyly. “Thank you.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes after that, simply enjoying their reunion. Steve didn’t
want to leave her, if he was being honest with himself. He was lonelier that he realized, and
El seemed like she’d be the only one who could understand him due to their similar
backgrounds. Except, if she stayed with him, the lab would find her, which was the last thing
Steve wanted.

“I should go,” he told her once another minute had passed. “But I’ll come back to visit when
I’m able to get away again. If you’re fine with me coming back, that is.”

“I would like if you visited me, Steve.”

“Good. I’m glad. But before I leave, is there anything I can do for you in the meantime? Like
get you a blanket or-”

El tightened her grip on Steve’s sleeve. “Look after Mike.”

There went Steve’s plan to murder the dipshit, but it was a request from his sister, so he had
to. Was El his sister though? They’d grown up together. That fact didn’t change even though
their memories had been wiped. Maybe that was another reason why he wanted to see her.
Steve wanted to be her family, even if that meant getting her to safety by helping her leave
town.

“Of course,” Steve said, forcing a smile onto his face. “I’ll take care of all those little
shitheads if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you, Steve.”

The two of them said their goodbyes after that with El promising she would check in on him
with her powers from time to time. Steve didn’t know if that would work given his shield
(and that Steve could barely do remote viewing in the sensory deprivation tank let alone by
himself), but he figured they’d find a way to make it work. He didn’t want to leave her alone
in the woods without at least trying to find a way to secretly contact her without alerting the
lab.

Steve continued to think of solutions as he walked, but nothing came to mind. He then exited
the tree line, thoughts momentarily shifting to warming up in his car, when his mind stalled
as he noticed a pair of legs wrapped in tightly black jeans and white sneakers. It took Steve a
moment to realize that his BMW hadn’t crushed the Wicked Witch of the East, but someone
was lying under it on their stomach, crawling around as if searching for something.

“Uh, hey,” Steve said awkwardly. “Whatcha doing there, buddy?”

“I was going to key King Steve’s car,” the other boy replied, “but as I was pulling them out, I
dropped a dime. Now I can’t fucking find it.”

From his voice, Steve recognized the bastard as Eddie Munson. Ever since Nancy dumped
Steve, and he fell off his throne, Eddie had been verbally abusing him whenever they crossed
each other in the halls. His attitude was starting to get on Steve’s nerves. Not only because it
was rude, but also because he had the stupidest crush on Eddie since freshman year.

There was something about Eddie that made his heart skip a beat. He liked how he’d hop
onto the tables to give speeches or how he laughed so loud that Steve could hear him clear
across the cafeteria. Maybe if Tommy and the other jocks hadn’t gotten their claws into him,
spewing their homophobic rhetoric, Steve would’ve confessed. Instead, Steve buried his
feelings, buried them so deep he thought that he’d succeeded in getting rid of them.

Of course, that wasn’t the truth. About two weeks ago, Robin had dragged him to the battle
of the bands since all of her other friends had ditched her. They weren’t close as she had just
started tutoring him, but Steve had nothing better to do, and the flier by the payphone did
make it seem kind of cool, so Steve agreed to go. He wouldn’t have, though, if he’d known
that it would include Eddie performing with his band while wearing the tightest leather pants
known to man.

Steve’s hopeless crush came back full force after seeing Eddie in his element. Now the guy
was here, trying to key his car, and reminding Steve that guys like Eddie weren’t into guys
like Steve. He would’ve thanked the universe for the reminder if the heartbreak from the
realization didn’t hurt so fucking much. Cutting his heart out with a rusty spoon would’ve
been less painful than the reminder that Steve was always meant to be alone and unwanted.

“It’s just a dime, man. Leave it. You’re going to freeze your balls off at this rate.”

“Probably, but it’s my dime. I’m not letting that bitch Mother Nature get the better of me.”
Steve laughed despite himself, finding it hard to be mad at Eddie. He probably deserved to
have his car keyed anyway since Steve was such bullshit. Just a clingy guy who was afraid of
being alone, so he’d contort himself until he was accepted by others. He’d hurt people for
that desire to be accepted, not the freak he knew he was deep in his bones, and that’s why he
couldn’t be angry. How could he when he deserved this?

“And don’t forget Father Winter, that complete fucking asshole,” he said instead of
demanding that Eddie get out from under his car since it seemed like Steve was, in fact, a
masochist.

Eddie chuckled. “Hell, yeah. Now you’re getting it, stranger.”

“Want me to help you look? We could get the best of those two shitheads together.”

“It’s cool. Don’t want to inconvenience you. Besides, Harrington probably won’t come out of
the woods at all tonight. I’m sure he’s ambling around, crying about how his girlfriend
dumped him for Jonathan Byers.”

“Nancy and Steve mutually agreed to the break-up. It’s been almost a month, too. Who
mopes around over a mutual break-up for that long?”

“Harrington. He works at the theater with his tutor, Buckley. And trust me when I say that the
guy is bitter as fuck. He wanders around with his company-issued flashlight, gleefully
shining it on overeager couples.”

“It’s the theater’s policy. It’s a part of his job.”

“Part of his job? Really?” Eddie snorted in amusement. “I know it wouldn’t have been too
long ago where he was in the back row with all the other horndogs.”

Pain stabbed at Steve’s gut, knowing Eddie was right. It felt as if he’d been hurting for years
when, in reality, he’d only broken up with Nancy a little under a month ago. If Steve was still
with her, he’d probably be in the back row with all the other bullshit boyfriends, trying to
pretend like everything was normal and interdimensional monsters didn’t exist.

“Aha!” Eddie cried out. “I found my dime! Now to do what I came here to do.”

“I’d key the driver’s side door,” Steve suggested. “That way he can see it right away.”

“I like the way you think, stranger. What are you doing out here any-?”

The words died in Eddie’s throat as he crawled out from under the car and saw that he was
talking to Steve Harrington. It was cute the way Eddie’s brown doe-eyes widened like a
startled deer and flakes of snow delicately clung to his long, dark brown hair. Eddie’s face
was also a bright red from the cold, which smoothed the typical rough edges that surrounded
him.

Steve would’ve been tempted to brush his hands through Eddie’s hair until it rested on one of
Eddie’s reddened cheeks, but Eddie came back to himself before Steve could, fixing a
scornful smirk at Steve. Eddie then leaned against the hood of Steve’s car with his arms
crossed over his chest defensively. Despite all the leather and chains, Eddie only looked like
an angry cat hissing at his least favorite human. Steve really wondered why he never had a
crush on someone who could stand him let alone like him.

“Why as I live and breathe,” Eddie said while raising a hand up to his forehead so he could
pretend to swoon. “If it isn’t the future prom king himself. What an honor it is to be before
royalty. This humble peasant has forgotten his manners. Excuse this poor knave for not
recognizing your whiny yet dulcet tones immediately.”

“Yeah, real hilarious, just like the other twenty times you’ve said that to me,” Steve replied
while rolling his eyes. “It’s cold, and I’ve got to work tonight, so can you key my car
already? I really want a nap before my shift starts.”

“Maybe I don’t feel like keying your car any longer. Maybe I just want to sit on it now.”

Steve tilted his head to the side. “Like you want to talk to me?”

“Talk to you? Fuck no. I mean, you know, you’ve got places to be. Naps to take. Me sitting
here is upending those plans. Get it? I’m trying to annoy you.”

“Consider me past annoyed. I’m downright aggravated. Mission accomplished.”

The way Eddie’s nose scrunched up in thought seemed to signal that he hadn’t accomplished
what he’d set out to do. Instead, he scooted further up the hood of Steve’s car in order to give
Steve a deeply assessing look. His disconcerting gaze made Steve stand up straighter, hoping
to pass up to muster during an evaluation for once.

“I just don’t get you,” Eddie said eventually. “One day, you’re the biggest shithead in the
world, sitting pretty on a golden throne with your princess. The next, you’re- I don’t know. It
doesn’t make sense. You don’t make sense.”

“Ha, there’s a long line of people telling me I don’t make sense. Just ask Mrs. Click. She
looks like she’s going to have an aneurysm every time I raise my hand in class.”

“Not what I meant, and you know it.”

“What do you want me to tell you? That I discovered interdimensional monsters were real
and fighting one off with a baseball bat put things into perspective? That I suddenly
remembered that I’m a superhuman freak, which somehow got my ex-girlfriend to reveal that
I’m bullshit? Just tell me what you want to hear, and I’ll say that.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Well, that’s all I’ve got. So, if we’re done, you can either get off my car, or I can drive away
with you still on top of it. Your choice.”

Another silence stretched between them, but this one was awkward as Eddie began to drum
his fingers against his forearm nervously. His other hand grabbed a portion of his long hair,
using it to cover his mouth. Eddie chewed on the strands while his eyeline settled onto a
stone slightly to the left of Steve’s shoes. Steve would’ve found it cute if there wasn’t a
sinking feeling in his chest telling him that he wasn’t going to like the next sentence to come
out of Eddie’s mouth.

“Actually, can I get a ride?” Eddie mumbled. “My van crapped out a mile down.”

“Wait...” Steve narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Were you going to key my car or steal my
car?”

“I’m a man of mystery, Steven. I’ll let you decide on that one.”

Both, Steve concluded. If that dime hadn’t dropped, he was pretty certain that he would’ve
been picking his car from an impound lot with “King Steve” or some shit scratched into the
door later that day. Then again, it cost money to get a car out of the lot, and his “parents” had
restricted his spending by a lot. The lab was most likely worried he’d make a run for it, which
he probably would do if he thought he could actually hide from them.

Steve tried not to sigh at that depressing thought, and instead turned his mind back to Eddie.
He knew he shouldn’t give him a ride after all the crap that he’d said, but it wasn’t as if Steve
was exactly innocent either since he’d been a major bully before his memory got jogged.
Also, there wasn’t anything besides old hunting cabins for miles down his stretch of road, so
Eddie would either have to hitchhike or walk to get back to Hawkins. Both choices were
dangerous in their own right, and Steve really didn’t want to leave Eddie in danger even if he
did annoy him.

“Fine,” Steve relented, “but we drive in silence, and if you touch my radio then I’m kicking
you out of the car while it’s in motion. Understood?”

“Completely, my violent and contemptuous savior.”

Steve rubbed his temple. “Munson, get in the fucking car.”

“I’m going. I’m going,” Steve assumed Eddie said since Eddie was chewing on his hair
again.

Eddie then hopped off the car’s hood without much fanfare and slid into the passenger seat as
if he regularly got rides from Steve. The whole interaction gave Steve a headache (which was
unfairly the only injury his powers couldn’t heal since it was stress induced) and made him
question his sanity that he still had a crush on the guy. He only hoped that Eddie kept his
word, letting them drive in silence since Eddie’s music would give him a full-on migraine if
Steve had to listen to it for more than a second.

As promised, Eddie remained silent, only speaking to give Steve directions, which wasn’t
because he was playing nice, but because the guy honestly confused him. Just under a month
ago, Steve had been the leader of the shithead jocks, the king who doled out the commands
that his lesser nobles acted out on his behalf. Maybe Steve hadn’t done any of the actual
bullying himself, but that still put him on the same level of those other assholes, maybe even
worse because he could’ve stopped them yet didn’t.
Steve was supposed to be the goal, after all. Eddie was supposed to get famous then come
back to a fat and balding Steve who had peaked in high school. Then Steve would figure out
that he was gay and throw himself at Eddie, begging at a chance to be with someone so much
richer than him, only for Eddie to reveal that he was in fact dating Tom Cruise or some other
hot actor. That was the plan, the dream, but that didn’t seem to be the case any longer.

When Eddie had heard through the grapevine that Steve had broken away from the pack, he’d
assumed that it was for Nancy Wheeler, to try to get back with her or something. He had
laughed and made bets with his friends on how long the guy would last before he got sick of
the nice guy routine. Eddie had bet a month, which was more than Gareth who said a week,
except Eddie had accidentally admitted to wanting to key the guy’s car and the most Steve
got was mildly annoyed while still giving Eddie the ride he needed.

It occurred to Eddie that none of them had bet that Steve’s change was real, that it had
nothing to do with winning the girl back, and that he was just a guy trying to do the right
thing for once. Did that mean Eddie should apologize for being an ass earlier? Was he
supposed say, “Oh, sorry, I thought you were still a fucking dick and therefore an acceptable
target, so let’s forget all that shit, okay?” Nope, that wasn’t even remotely an option. He was
going to take this apology to the grave with him if he had to.

“Here,” Eddie said, pointing to a house a block away from Gareth’s. “Drop me off here.”

As Steve pulled up to the curb, Eddie almost jumped out of the car while it was still moving.
Eddie wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with Steve per say, but he’d never hear the end of it if
the rest of the band saw him with Steve “the Hair” Harrington. They’d probably have a
million questions for Eddie, wanting to know what Steve’s game was as if he’d somehow
planned to leave his car out where Eddie could key it like some villainous mastermind.

“Uh, thanks,” he said quietly to Steve. “You know, for the ride.”

“Sure,” Steve replied with a small nod. “And thanks for staying quiet.”

“Least I could after everything.”

Steve nodded again, though a little more awkwardly this time, so Eddie took that as his cue to
get out of the car before the energy between them became even more strained. Their quick
goodbyes before Steve drove away were genuine, at least. Eddie didn't know how to take
that, however, since he wasn’t certain if that meant that both of them were on good terms or
were simply dying for their interaction to end. Whichever it was didn’t matter as Eddie was
late for band practice.

While trekking through the snow to Gareth’s house, he belatedly released in his haste to leave
his van that he’d forgotten to take his guitar from the back of it. The luck gods weren’t
smiling upon Eddie this day, if they ever did, given how shitty Eddie’s life was going. He’d
said that this year would be his year, meaning that of course the universe had to prove him
wrong.

Eddie’s mood had plummeted by the time he reached the side door of Gareth’s garage, but he
tried to force a smile onto his face as he entered. Thankfully, they were too absorbed in
playing to notice that Eddie had entered. A genuine smile slowly spread across his features as
he watched them, though, happy to have found people who loved metal music as much as
him.

Soon, the music stopped, and when they looked up, they finally noticed Eddie standing off to
the side. All had matching looks of exasperation on their faces, none more so than Gareth. He
stared at Eddie as he sat at his drum kit with an expression that made him akin to a harrowed
housewife wondering why her son couldn’t be on time to dinner just this once.

“You’re late,” Gareth said with a put-upon sigh.

“You don’t say, Gare-bear,” Eddie replied sarcastically, slinking up into his usual position
when they practiced. “Because you know I totally can’t read my own fucking watch.”

Eddie took his jacket off, tossing it onto a box of Christmas decorations, since the garage was
loaded with more space heaters than was probably safe to have in the enclosed space, but at
least they’d die warm. A part of Eddie wished they didn’t have to practice in the winter time,
but if they wanted to make it big then sacrifices had to be made. Despite what their
classmates and teachers said, Eddie knew in his bones that they were going to be famous one
day then he’d be the one getting the last laugh.

“Come on, Eddie. We’re not angry,” Grant said. “We only want to know what happened.”

“And where’s your guitar?” Jeff asked.

“Back with my van,” Eddie explained. “It crapped out on me on the way over, and I didn't
remember I left my guitar behind until I was already here, though. Figured I could just
practice vocals today.”

“That thing is always breaking down. I think you should have it professionally looked at,”
Gareth said. “You know, so you can stop getting stranded in the middle of nowhere.”

“Of course, Mother,” he snarked back. “Right away, Mother.”

“Ignore him, Gare,” Jeff said. “You know how he gets when he’s in a mood. After we play a
few songs, we’ll all feel better.”

While Gareth didn’t look like he agreed, expression still somewhat sour, he counted them in
for the next song so they could begin practicing again. Jeff was wrong, though. Eddie didn’t
feel any better than he did when he walked in, and his mood was affecting the others as
everyone kept making tiny mistakes that were annoying because they should’ve had this
down by now.

The rest of the band didn’t know, but Eddie’s mind kept wandering back to Steve. He wanted
to see him again. He wanted to confirm that the Steve who had driven him here was the real
Steve and not some nicer doppelganger. Eddie didn’t know what he’d do once he was certain
Steve had changed, yet his mind wouldn’t stop circling back to his desire to see Steve.
Grant was the first to crack, nearly throwing down his bass in frustration when he missed a
whole chord. Jeff put down his guitar while Gareth let his drumsticks rest on his snare drum.
Since Eddie didn’t have an instrument, he could only stand there awkwardly, praying no one
noticed that he was the one throwing everyone off their mark. He didn’t want to explain what
happened to them, and thankfully, Grant was so wound up that none of them caught the guilty
expression that Eddie was trying to keep hidden.

“I think I need a break.” Grant sighed. “I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere until we all
relax more. The tension in the room is killing me.”

“You want to go see a movie?” Eddie asked, trying to seem nonchalant. “Movies are
relaxing.”

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, what’s playing?”

“Scarface, I think. I’m eighteen, so I could get us all in if you guys wanted to see it.”

“I wouldn’t mind calling practice now,” Grant said. “My parents won’t let me see it, and I’ve
got a curfew. If Eddie’s willing to get us in, I don’t mind.”

“I do,” Gareth interjected. “Auditions at the Hideout are starting next year for regular bands.”

Eddie snorted. “Just because it changed owners, doesn’t make the Hideout any different from
the Hideaway. They probably only care if we can play in a way that won’t disturb the
drunks.”

Gareth slumped behind his drum kit, knowing that Eddie was right. That didn’t make the gig
any less important, but they didn’t need to kill themselves learning the songs. Getting the gig
at the Hideout was basically like getting a job at a fast-food restaurant then turning it into
something such as “has team building experience” on a future resume. A little padding never
hurt anyone.

“Okay, you win,” Gareth relented. “I’ve been wanting to see Scarface, too.”

“That’s the spirit, Gare-bear!” Eddie yelled excitedly while doing a small fist pump. “It’s
time to stop and smell the stale concessions stand popcorn.”

“God, you’re annoying,” Jeff said, though there was no bite to his words. “Why do we keep
you around again?”

“Because I’m the best forever DM this side of the Midwest, and I’m willing to sneak you into
R-rated movies.”

Grant laughed. “He’s got us there.”

They exchanged a few more rounds of banter before Eddie grabbed his jacket and got into the
back of Jeff’s car with Grant while Gareth took shotgun. Well, it was Jeff’s parents’ car, and
if he put even a scratch on it, he’d be grounded for the rest of his life, but poh-tay-toe, pah-
tat-toe or whatever. Eddie was just glad that he didn’t have to walk, though he really should
call a tow truck for his own van. That was a problem for Future Eddie, though. Present Eddie
was going to go see Scarface and possibly Steve Harrington.

The drive from Gareth’s house to the theater was barely fifteen minutes, if that. In fact, since
Hawkins was so dinky, it never took more than twenty minutes to get anywhere in town. It
was convenient compared to the hustle and bustle of Indy, except Eddie didn’t think he would
miss the closeness of everything once he finally left this Hellhole. The only thing Eddie
thought he’d miss would be the time he spent with Wayne in their trailer, which wasn’t
enough to make Eddie stay, just caused a small ping of sadness in his heart at the idea of
being separated from him.

“Isn’t that Steve Harrington’s car?” Jeff said, pulling Eddie from his thoughts.

Eddie gazed at the car they had parked next to, and sure enough, it was Steve’s signature
maroon BMW. It looked majestic underneath the bright light of the marque above them,
giving the old theater a feeling of old-fashioned glam, because the car didn’t belong in a
place like Hawkins. Like its owner, it stood out too much, a beautiful sore thumb in the
middle of nowhere.

“He works here,” Gareth said. “Me and Eddie saw him breaking up couples in the back row
just last week. The guy’s such a prick.”

“What does he even need to work for?” Grant added. “If I had that much money, I’d just
lounge around all day. Ever since the fight with Byers, the guy has gotten a few screws
loose.”

“Ladies, ladies,” Eddie said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Did we come here to gossip, or
did we come here to watch a movie?”

“Watch a movie,” Grant and Gareth muttered.

“Good. Now let’s go. You guys know the drill.”

The drill was, of course, Eddie going around the front, buying a ticket, and then sneaking his
friends through the back by means of the broken emergency exit. It had an alarm once, but at
some point, broke and was either never repaired or never noticed by the owner. Everyone
knew about the broken alarm, making it the worst kept secret in Hawkins High.

Eddie watched his friends get out of the car, not getting out himself. They rounded the corner
without noticing that Eddie hadn’t left. They also didn’t notice that his palms had become
sweatier and breath quicker as he tried to calm down before he entered the theater and finally
came face-to-face with the man, the legend, Steve “the Hair” Harrington.

Him being nervous didn’t even make sense. Before, sure he found Steve attractive, but the
guy does one nice thing for him and suddenly he has a crush on the dude? Okay, it made
perfect sense since Eddie was pretty sure he’d get a crush on someone even if they handed
him a stick of gum unprompted (it didn’t even have to be a flavor he liked), and he’d fawn
about how giving the asshole was, when actually they only wanted to finish out the pack.
“It’s just Steve,” Eddie said, wiping his palms onto his jeans. “You hated the guy this
morning and aren’t getting another crush on a straight dude. Calm your gay ass down and get
the fucking ticket like a normal human being.”

For good measures, Eddie gave himself a light slap across the face then stormed out of the
car like he was marching to war. He stomped up to the doors repeating the mantra, “It’s just
Steve” in his head. Eddie inhaled sharply and put on his scariest scowl before he slammed
open the doors with a little too much gusto. His eyes narrowed in on the ticket taker and...

Fuck. Just fuck him right in the ass. God damn it.

“Hey there, Munson!” Steve “the Hair” Harrington greeted from behind the ticket booth.
“That’s twice now. What are the odds?”

Pretty good considering that Eddie came specifically to see Steve and make certain he wasn’t
hallucinating their interaction earlier. Now here Eddie was, standing in front of Steve, who
was smiling widely while wearing the bulky red jacket that was the theater’s uniform. It was
like they put a golden retriever on ticket sales, guilting everyone to turn out their pockets at
the puppy-dog eyes and tail that would clearly be wagging if Steve had one.

“Yeah, what a coincidence,” Eddie replied stiffly.

Eddie shuffled further into the theater, losing his previous swagger in favor of doing his best
to crush whatever feelings were trying to develop for Steve Harrington. Thankfully the lobby
was empty besides a girl with a bad perm and dirty blonde hair there to witness. She stood
behind the concessions stand with a disinterested expression, seeming to barely recognize
that Eddie had entered let alone existed. He did know her, though. She was Robin Buckley,
from Band.

Robin was cool, though he didn’t see her much anymore. Milton, one of the guys in Robin’s
group, pissed him off one day. Eddie shared a lot of interests with Milton, except the dude
was too concerned about his image. Milton had told Eddie once that the girl he liked was a
bit of a goody-two-shoes and was worried that she might get the wrong idea about him if he
hung out with the local drug dealer. So, of course, Eddie had made a big scene and left the
band room dramatically, never to return again.

It wasn’t as if Eddie was missing much. All Miss Genovese cared about was her next smoke
break while the rest of the class acted like they were better than everyone else. Several even
talked like they were in some highbrow orchestra instead of a high school marching band.
They looked down their noses at those who didn’t conform to their standards, picking on the
players who they considered freaks. The whole class was honestly bullshit. He didn’t get how
Robin could continue to stand it.

“So, four tickets, right?” Steve said, hand poised on the register.

“No, just the one,” Eddie corrected.

“The doors are made of glass, man. I saw your friends go around back. Everyone knows what
is going down if someone wanders around the back.”
“Can’t you just let it slide just this once? I thought you were cool.”

“I-I am!” Steve protested, cheeks turning red as Robin laughed in the background. “I AM!
The thing is that the owner doesn’t like me, and I kind of need this job, so if he found out, I’d
be dead.”

“How is he going to find out? Are you going to tell him?”

“Eddie, I seriously can’t. I’m not saying this to be an asshole.”

“Well, it sure sounds like it, rich boy,” Eddie sneered. “Why do you even need a job when
your parents are the wealthiest fuckers in town?”

That clearly pushed the wrong button as Steve’s jaw set and his brow furrowed in anger.
Eddie made the mistake that his uncle told him never to make if he wanted to keep his
fingers. Even when a dog seemed friendly, it still had teeth, so he shouldn’t poke at them
unless he wanted those teeth to viciously tear him a new one.

“Robs,” Steve called over his shoulder, “you know that emergency exit with the broken
alarm?”

“Yeah?” Robin answered, leaning over the concessions stand with a bored look.

“You should probably go stand by it with your flashlight. In case of, you know, an
emergency.”

The bored expression on Robin’s face vanished instantly, replaced with a broad, toothy grin.
She was clearly pleased at the prospect of being a professional cockblock. Robin then picked
up her flashlight off the counter and scurried into the theater. The whole thing would’ve been
funny, if it wasn’t Eddie’s friends who she was preventing from sneaking in through that
door.

Once Robin was gone, Steve’s scowl became meaner, not crossing into King Steve territory,
but edging on its borders. It made Eddie feel vindicated. Of course, Steve hadn’t changed. Of
course, he was still the same asshole who loved to lord his power over the peasants. Eddie
was wrong, so it was a good thing that he hadn’t developed a crush on the guy.

“Listen here, Munson,” Steve hissed at him. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what the
last fucking month has been like for me, so don’t fucking assume you know about my
homelife when you’re running your mouth, trying to get me fired.”

“Why? Because you’re one of us peasants now?” Eddie shot back just as bitterly. “You’re not
royalty any longer, got kicked out-”

“I didn’t get kicked out! I left those assholes. I didn’t want to be like them anymore.”

“Well, you’re not doing a good job showing it, because you still seem like a pretty big
asshole to me, Harrington.”

“All because I don’t want to lose my job over you? I’m sorry. You’re cute, but not that cute.”
“Yeah, make fun of the freak. Good one.”

“How am I making fun of you? I don’t understand.”

“Of course, you don’t.” Eddie snorted in disbelief. “God, you’re such fucking bullshit. Never
met a bigger bullshitter than you in all my life.”

At Eddie’s words, Steve visibly paled and gripped the sides of the booth, knuckles turning
white as the wood literally splintered in his grasp. Though Eddie found that didn’t scare him,
much to his surprise. What did scare him were the unshed tears that were forming in Steve’s
eyes since Eddie had never seen the other boy cry, not once through all the injuries Steve had
gotten at his unsupervised house parties or the few sporting events that Eddie attended when
he still cared about Band.

An apology formed on Eddie’s lips without his permission, wanting to take it all back. He
hadn’t meant to go so far that the fucker cried, but he still knew it was a touchy subject, that
Steve had mentioned something about bullshit during their talk, and pushed like he wanted to
get bit. Or maybe he did, because being bit was what he knew opposed to Steve playing
nicely with him.

“Steve, I’m-” Eddie began, only to be interrupted.

“Harrington, that’s coming out of your paycheck!” someone yelled from behind Steve.

Soon, an older gentleman with a mop of black hair and a red jacket like Steve’s was marching
up to them. Steve released the fragments of wood between his fingers then rubbed his palm
against his eyes to rub away the unshed tears before the man approached. If Eddie had to
hazard a guess from the way the man scowled at Steve, this was Steve’s boss.

“Sorry,” Steve said, voice lacking emotion. “I guess I don’t know my own strength.”

“Sure,” Steve’s boss huffed with a roll of his eyes. “Maybe you can use that strength to scrub
the graffiti off the bathroom walls. You know a thing or two about cleaning that up, don’t
you?”

Shame crossed Steve’s features as he nodded. “I do. I’ll get on it right away.”

“Also, clean the toilets while you’re in there. I want those stalls spotless.”

Again, Steve agreed without much fight then turned his attention to Eddie. Steve turned to
stare at Eddie with wide, sad eyes like a kicked puppy. His brow creased while his feet
shuffled, almost as if he was going to apologize. He seemed to think better of it, however, and
instead gave Eddie a tiny wave goodbye.

“See you, Munson.” Steve sighed. “I’ve got to get to my dream job, janitorial services.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Steve then gave Eddie a tight-lipped smile before he walked away down the hall, presumably
to where the bathrooms were located. If Steve’s boss had any opinion on their interaction, he
 didn’t say, merely ringing Eddie up while apologizing for Steve’s rudeness. Eddie wanted to
correct the guy, that he’d been the rude one, not Steve, but he didn’t, just wanting to get into
the theater.

After receiving his ticket, Eddie went to the backdoor and bribed Robin with a few extra
dollars. She was only human, after all, and quickly gave up her cockblocking quest in
exchange for the fiver he slipped her. Getting the rest of the band in was easy once she left,
though the assholes had the nerve to complain that Eddie took too long. If they knew the
headache Eddie had to go through then they wouldn’t be complaining.

Eddie didn’t tell them about his run-in, strangely enough though. He knew he could twist it
so that he wouldn’t be the bad guy of the story and the guys wouldn’t bat an eye. Heck, Eddie
would’ve even won the bet if he worded the story right, but he didn’t. It didn’t matter,
anyway. His crush on a straight guy was averted even if it was in the worst possible way, and
he’d be graduating this year if Mrs. O’Donnell didn’t do him dirty on his midterm, meaning
he’d never have to deal with Steve again. So, actually, there was no need to mention the
incident since next year was going to be his year. He could feel it.

Chapter End Notes

If you enjoyed this, feel free to stop by my Tumblr, Steddie-Antihero, and Twitter,
LouderSwine, for a chat. I'm an awkward potato, but I'll do my best!
 October 29th, 1984 - Part One
Chapter Notes

First want to apologize for taking so long with this chapter! I ended up getting Covid. I
had the vaccine but not the booster, so it ended up knocking me out for a couple of
weeks, and I couldn't work on this chapter.

Again, this is unbetaed, but I ran it through two word processors this time, so hopefully
it'll have less errors.

And credit to MIT for the Shakespeare lines that I used for the chapter.

TW: Steve has another panic attack. It's almost like he's a traumatized lab experiment or
something.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The months went by from that day Steve met up with El in the woods. While nothing
eventful happened, at least nothing to do with the Upside-Down, Steve still felt as if he
couldn’t relax, like he was the only one who couldn’t. He could practically see another shoe
hanging over their heads, waiting to drop, but no one else seemed too concerned. Since the
others weren’t nervous, Steve tried to write it off as him overacting and that he was jumping
at shadows.

Nancy didn’t care about the Upside-Down, not in the sense of it returning anyway. She was
quietly imploding under the guise of seeking justice for Barb even at the risk of her own life.
Jonathan was trying his best to be there for her despite having his own family problems to
deal with, but there wasn’t any way he could since Steve was certain that even Nancy didn’t
know what she needed to get past Barb’s death. Steve didn’t think there was a way to move
on from the guilt. He’d made peace with the fact that it’d always be a gaping hole in his
chest.

Dustin and Lucas had bounced back pretty quickly, acted like they’d experienced a cool,
once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Steve made good on his promise to El and watched the brats
from time to time. Sometimes they’d discuss it, talk about it like it was a far-off dream,
another one of their tabletop adventures. Though, Steve hoped maybe it was for them as he’d
rather they not have to deal with any more messes created by the HNL.

And Steve honestly didn’t think that the lab was cleaning up the ones they’d made
previously, either. They’d offered the Byers some compensation, paying for the damages to
their home due to the portals. They also gave free therapy to Will, but if Steve knew the lab,
they were more likely treating him as a test subject, trying to find out the effect of long-term
exposure to the Upside-Down on the human psyche, much like the ones they used to run on
Steve when he was still Seven.

Joyce was skeptical of the lab, at least. She took him to the sessions with a watchful eye,
hoping to get him help as Will had grown unnaturally quiet. Jonathan had assured Steve that
Will was resilient and would get better eventually, but Steve could see the worry in his eyes
whenever Will was brought up in conversation. They both knew that Will was being bullied
as they were both unfortunately aware of the signs for two completely different reasons and
that there was nothing they could do until Will confided in them, which he never did.

If Mike knew about his best friend being bullied, he didn’t say as Mike was too busy
worrying about El, who he refused to believe was dead. At first, Steve hadn’t told him that he
was right because the government was still heavily watching the Wheeler home. Then it was
Hopper forbidding Steve from saying anything, and El asked Steve to comply to keep Mike
safe, which got El instantly on board with the plan. Hopper claimed he was worried that they
might have tapped the house, except Steve knew that Hopper just didn’t like the kid and
would rather not have a boy around his newly adopted daughter.

However, Hopper did let Steve visit El on occasions, asking him to watch over her when
Hopper couldn’t. Steve remembered how lacking the education was in the lab in order to
make them into mindless soldiers and brought her workbooks to help her catch up to the
other kids her age when he did visit. El loved learning, and with Hopper’s word of the day,
she was catching up quickly, probably knowing more than Steve by now. She was happier
than when he’d first met her in the woods, really seeming to be doing okay now that she was
living with the old man.

Steve, on the other hand, wasn’t doing well. He felt paranoid, as if there was something
watching him all the time. He’d always check that all the doors and windows were locked
then take his flashlight to shine it through the woods behind his house. Sometimes, he saw
dog-like shapes running by, chittering wildly, but when he’d investigated the next morning,
nothing appeared out of place. He didn’t know if it was because he was seeing things or-

“I’m running out of space on my shoes,” Robin said without looking up from her doodle.
“Let me draw on yours.”

Blinking, Steve was pulled from his thoughts, remembering that he was having lunch with
Robin in the alley by the track field. They did that often now that they were friends and as
long as the weather wasn’t too cold or rainy. She’d doodle on her shoes while he’d chew
quietly on his food. They’d talk, but that was usually reserved for after school when there
wasn’t a chance of them being overheard since they tended to talk about each other’s secrets
when they did.

Robin was Steve’s lifeline and knew everything about him, even the fact that he had powers.
He’d shown them to her after he got fired from the theater, and she quit. Steve didn’t know
the whole story but knew some of it as he’d been in the theater pretending to do his job while
he instead secretly watched Sixteen Candles, which he never saw through to the end because
the film caught on fire in the middle.
Since Robin was the one in charge of the projector, Steve had sprinted up to the booth with
his heart in his throat only to find the film burning in the projector and that Robin wasn’t
there. He’d panicked, causing him to stupidly try to put the fire out with his bare hands
before remembering the location of the fire extinguisher. It was just his luck that the manager
came up in the middle of Steve’s heroics and demanded to know what happened to Robin.

Of course, Steve lied and said he’d bullied her out of the box so he could take over. It was no
surprise that Steve had been instantly fired. Robin quit a moment later, grateful that he’d
taken the blame for her. Then when they were talking alone in his car, because at some point
Robin had begun getting rides to work from him, he showed her how he could heal his own
burn. They’d been basically platonic soulmates and forever twins ever since.

“So...?” Robin prompted again.

“I thought you’d take my silence as a soft yet firm rejection,” Steve replied.

“Oh, come on! Please, Stevie? Please my best dingus friend? Please my soulmate, the
platonic love of my life? Please, please, please, please, please!?”

“No! You’re just going to draw dicks on them again! It took forever to scrub them out last
time.”

“You have so many different pairs, though. You’re not going to miss one pair of dick shoes.”

“Robs, look at the checkmark. It’s red because I’m wearing red accents today. I have a
different color of each pair so I can coordinate with my outfit for the day. Meaning, they’re
all important in their own special way, and I can’t part with any of them.”

“But what if you don’t have a shoe that matches? Like that green sweater you rock
sometimes. You don’t have green shoes.”

“I’d pick red since it’s a complementary color,” he explained snobbishly. “And if I don’t have
a pair like that, I’d pick a pair depending on if the main theme involves warm or cool colors.”

“Oh my god!” Robin burst out laughing. “How did I ever mistake you for straight?”

Steve rolled his eyes but still lifted up his foot so she could grab his shoe. He was always
going to hand over his shoe, but he didn’t want her to think that he’d instantly say yes to
whatever she demanded. Though, he was pretty certain she didn’t care as she excitedly
wrestled the shoe off him without even a word of thanks.

“Put the dicks on the soles only,” he clarified. “Got it?”

“Aw, you’re the best, dingus.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t mention it.”

Robin went back to silently doodling, so Steve decided to pull out the script for the school
play to try going over lines again. He hadn’t actually been aiming for a role, planning on
supporting Robin since the last time she auditioned for a play, she passed out because she
literally forgot to breathe while monologuing. Since she’d gotten inside her own head last
time, she figured that if Steve was there to embarrass himself in front of everyone with her
then she’d be fine.

The two of them had both auditioned to play witches. While Steve didn’t think that he’d done
that great of a job in terms of line delivery, he’d somehow gotten the lead role instead. Not
that he wanted it since it cut deeply into his free time (because if he wasn’t at play rehearsals
then he was at football practice, soon to be basketball since they didn’t make it to the next
stage of the league) but Mrs. Smith, the teacher in charge of the play, had seemed so excited
that he ended up agreeing instead of quitting.

“If there was only a way to combine us into one person,” Robin said with a wistful sigh.
“You’ve got all the charisma, and I’ve got all the brains. If we merged then we’d be
unstoppable.”

Steve glanced up at her with a knowing look. “You just want to play Macbeth.”

“I still can’t freaking believe it!” She pouted childishly. “You auditioned to be a witch like
me, but somehow you got the lead role!”

“Pretty sure I got the role because of my name. What can I say? I’m marketable as fuck.”

That was another reason why Steve didn’t want the part. He hadn’t earned it, and everyone
thought as much. He’d heard Eddie complaining about it backstage to his friends once. Eddie
was supposed to be Macbeth, but instead an amateur like Steve had gotten it because he was
handsome and the Harrington name was more likely to bring students to the theater. If Steve
hadn’t already promised Mrs. Smith that he’d act in the play then he would’ve quit on the
spot.

“No, you’re really good,” Robin assured him. “I just mean that you didn’t audition for the
role and got picked for it anyway. That only happens in movies.”

“A lot of my life is what happens only in movies, even the sci-fi ones.”

Heaving a sigh, Steve tipped his head back to lean against the wall. He could hear footsteps
coming, so he knew better than to elaborate on what he meant. Not because he thought a
stranger might overhear, but because he recognized the gait of the person approaching. Quick
yet heavy strides plus firm and authoritative footfalls meant it could only be Hopper, who
walked with more confidence than the other cops on the force.

“Hey, kid,” Hopper said with a small, awkward wave as he rounded the corner to stand above
them in the alley. “Think we could have a talk?”

“Sure,” Steve replied. “What do you want?”

“I was hoping we could talk alone,” he clarified. “As in, no one else around.”

Hopper fixed a pointed look at Robin, who was still drawing dicks on the bottom of Steve’s
shoe. She hadn’t seemed to notice the not-so-subtle glare he was shooting her way, so Steve
kicked her shin a few times until she finally looked up from her doodles. Robin’s eyes went
wide when she noticed Hopper towering over her and quickly hid Steve’s shoe behind her
back.

“Hey, Chief Hopper,” Robin greeted nervously. “We’re just sitting here, enjoying lunch.”

“I can see that,” Hopper replied irritably.

“Robs, he wants to talk with me alone. Do you mind giving us room for a sec?” Steve asked.

“Oh! Right!” she exclaimed. “Alone without me! I should be getting to class anyway. Bye,
Chief Hopper! Bye, Steve! See you at rehearsals!”

Robin shoved her belongings haphazardly into her backpack then gave them both a small
wave. Steve waved back while Hopper gave her a gruff nod of acknowledgement before she
scampered down the other side of the alley, back towards the main school building. When
Robin finally wasn’t facing them, Hopper narrowed his eyes as he stared at Robin’s retreating
back.

Ever since Hopper discovered that Steve had powers (because El hadn’t known she had to
keep it a secret from her newfound father figure), he’d become a lot more protective of Steve.
He helped Steve check his house for government bugs once a week (once a month now that
Owens had taken over) and did background checks on anyone new who tried to enter Steve’s
life to make certain they weren’t government plants. Hopper also said that if Steve needed to
hide, if the government came for him, that he could stay in his cabin with El until it was safe
to leave.

Maybe it was his natural teenage hormones that made him bristle every time Hopper tried to
coddle him, but it didn’t change the fact that Steve hated the way Hopper treated him. Steve
had superpowers and suddenly Hopper wanted to be his dad? Where was he the past four
years that Steve’s handlers were hurting him? If he never found out about Steve’s powers,
would he still be as protective as he was now? Probably not, so excuse Steve if he was a little
on edge whenever they needed to talk, which he only did for El’s sake.

“You know,” Hopper said once Robin was out of earshot, “you’ve been attached to the hip
with that Buckley girl for a couple of months now. When are you going to make your move?”

“It’s not like that between us,” Steve replied, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the idea. “She’s
like my sister, like El.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. Just remember I was young once, too.”

“Hop, was there a reason you came here? Or was it just to talk about my nonexistent love
life?”

“I need you to watch El tomorrow. I’m going up to the lab to talk to Owens, and I don’t know
how long the meeting will go.”

“That’s it? That’s the whole big reason you needed to talk to me alone?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” Hopper frowned. “Why? What were you expecting us to talk about?”

“If I can go to college. You said you’d ask them for me. Pretend like it was your idea to... I
don’t know, see how I’d react in a different environment or something.”

As soon as Steve discovered his whole life was a lab experiment, he realized that they
weren’t going to let him leave. The lab was located right here for one, making it easier to
observe him, and another point was that they tried to keep their experiments as uneducated as
possible so they could be better weapons. That’s why he asked Hopper to talk to them. He
seemed to have a good relationship with Owens, so Steve had hoped that he might be able to
convince the lab to allow him to go away to college after he graduated.

Hopper cleared his throat awkwardly. “Kid...”

Steve’s heart sank. He knew that tone. It was the “I’m an adult, and I’m allowed to break my
promises since you’re younger than me” tone. The one where they thought they were smarter
and knew more about someone’s life than the person who was living it. His handlers used
that tone with him a lot. Same with Brenner every time he promised that the next experiment
wouldn’t hurt Steve this time. It was stupid of Steve to think that Hopper might be different.

“You promised.” Steve placed his hands on his hips in frustration. “You promised that you’d
help me talk to them. Hop, this is the opposite of helping.”

“I know, but listen. Listen!” Hopper said again when he saw Steve was about to protest. “I’ve
just been thinking about it, and it might be dangerous if you left Hawkins. What if you get
hurt, and the wrong person sees you use your abilities? It goes completely against the ‘Don’t
Be Stupid’ rules.”

“That’s not your decision to make! You have to let me leave. You have to ask them to let me
leave. I don’t want to be stuck here forever.”

“And what’s so bad about Hawkins? Plenty of people here pick up trades or open businesses
instead of going to college. I could even get you a job at the police station, if you wanted.”

“I’ll go work for the Hawkins Police Force when Hell freezes over. That isn’t what I want to
do with my life.”

“Then what is, kid? What do you want to do that you can’t do here in Hawkins?”

“I-I don’t know, but I know it’s not here. If you just gave me a chance, you’d-”

“Steven, this is the end of the discussion. I’m not talking to them, and that’s final,” he
interrupted with his authoritative police voice. “Now can I count on you to watch El
tomorrow or not?”

“You can,” Steve mumbled.

Hopper huffed loudly. “Good.”

“Great.”
Hopper then stared Steve down, most likely hoping for a respectful goodbye, but Steve
wasn’t in the mood to be respectful or say goodbye. Instead, he gathered his things, turned on
his heel, and then proudly stomped down the alleyway, pretending as if he wasn’t missing a
shoe since Robin had taken it in her haste to leave. He was so angry he didn’t even feel the
sharp pebbles digging into the sole of his foot as he marched without looking back, already
knowing there was a sharp glare of frustration and disappointment fixed on the old man’s
face.

As it turned out, this year hadn’t been Eddie’s year since here he was, lounging on the prop
throne in the theater playing Macduff in the school play as he repeated his senior year. It
wasn’t his fault that Mrs. O’Donnell was a shitty teacher with a bigger sadism kink than him.
She clearly got off on failing students and seeing their faces when she ruined their lives. That
was the only reason Eddie could think of as to why she’d want to spend another year reading
his poorly answered test questions.

Eddie shifted his position on the throne so that his legs were draped over while his head
rested on the other so his long hair cascaded over the side. Not everything was complete shit,
though. He got to run Hellfire for another year and not graduating delayed the question as to
what he was going to do with his life as he waited for the band to take off. Plus, all his clients
were here, which made dealing drugs for Rick even easier.

There really was only one huge problem, and Eddie tilted his head back so he could stare
down Steve “the Hair” Harrington, who was unknowingly causing it. Steve was currently
speaking to Mrs. Smith, the new drama director as Mr. Hauser left last year. He stood there
all innocent, trying his best to get stage notes so he could give it his all or whatever. The guy
was an absolute menace without even having to do anything.

Steve wasn’t a bully any longer. In fact, he was barely social. He only hung around Robin
and sometimes Jonathan or Nancy if Steve couldn’t duck away in time to stop Nancy from
noticing him. There were also no more house parties on the weekends. Instead, Eddie often
saw Steve around town with a bunch of tiny middle schoolers following him around like
ducklings, definitely a step down from the Hawkins royal court.

Of course, it wasn’t like the rest of Hellfire agreed Steve had changed, though that might
have been mostly Eddie’s fault for running his mouth off that he should’ve been Macbeth.
He’d gone on a long rant about how Steve only got the role because of his name and his
extremely handsome face. Eddie might have also gone off about how Steve was encroaching
into their territory, thinking that he could pretend to be a nerd after everything he did. And
because karma loved fucking him over, Steve had overheard everything. Eddie wanted to
kick his own ass for not apologizing right there on the spot, but he was too busy trying to act
superior in front of his friends to do so.

And icing on the cake? Again, nothing Eddie had assumed was true, and Steve was actually a
good actor. He brought his own charm to the role, and the more everyone praised him, the
more effort Steve put into his performance. Maybe if it was before that day Steve gave him a
ride into town, Eddie would’ve called Steve egotistical for needing such accolades to
succeed, but after observing the guy for almost a solid year, he wanted to tell Steve he was
doing a good job, too.

Now all Eddie could do was sulk, watching the crew set up for the next scene while secretly
glancing over at Steve talking to Mrs. Smith occasionally. She’d taken a liking to Steve, but
most teachers did. They all had that same look of pity, as if they were all thinking the same
thought, that Steve was at his peak even though he was only a teenager, so they better be nice
to him before his good-looks faded, and the poor kid was left with no other marketable skills.

“I think I’ve got it now,” Steve said to Mrs. Smith. “Thanks.”

Mrs. Smith patted Steve on the head. “Of course, Steven.”

Steve gave her a forced smile, which turned into a sharp scowl as soon as Mrs. Smith turned
around then he immediately fixed his hair. It seemed like someone was especially moody
today, which maybe Eddie noticed because he’d been watching Steve for so long. Not in a
creepy way, more that he was trying to figure out why the guy wasn’t like how Eddie had
thought.

From his observations, Eddie learned Steve had two modes, which he’d labeled Golden
Retriever mode and Ginger Cat mode. Golden Retriever mode was when Steve was a mass of
energy, happily stumbling over his own feet for attention. Ginger Cat mode, his current one,
was when he was bitchy as fuck and moved sharply without a wasted bit of movement. It was
harder to deal with since Steve closed himself off and disliked communicating with others
who weren’t Robin Buckley. It was honestly like talking to a titanium-enforced wall when he
was like this.

Today, though, Steve seemed more agitated than normal, or it could be simply the arrogance
that was emanating from Steve’s costume. He was dressed in the full regalia of King
Macbeth, who had taken over after Lady Macbeth murdered Duncan. Also, though plastic,
the golden circlet that rested on Steve’s head brought with it an air of arrogance which
wrapped around Steve like a comfortable blanket. It was a reminder to all who approached
that while he might have been ousted from his throne, that didn’t make him any less noble.

Eddie continued to stare blatantly until he realized that Steve was walking his way. It had to
be time for them to run their scene together, the one where Macduff brutally beheaded
Macbeth. Or at least it was implied it was brutal since the actual decapitation happened off-
screen, not that the fact made Eddie any less excited to act out the scene with Steve. Now, all
he needed to do was think of something charmingly clever to say that would start their
interaction off on the right foot.

“All hail, Harrington,” Eddie said as Steve neared. “King of Hawkins High. What an honor it
is to have such greatness in my presence.”

Mentally, Eddie kicked himself. That wasn’t charming or clever. It was annoying, which
showed as the scowl on Steve’s face deepened, especially as some of the nearby stage crew
members snickered at Eddie’s comment. And if Eddie wasn’t a hypocrite who worried about
staying cool in the eyes of his fellow theater geeks, then he would’ve at least tried to make a
small attempt to amend his statement, but he was, so he didn’t.
“You’re in my seat,” Steve replied to Eddie flatly.

“No, this isn’t your seat. This is the throne of Duncan, and now Malcolm. You are merely a
false king who wears a stolen crown.”

Sighing, Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Look, man, I’m not in the best of
moods, and I don’t want to get into anything right now, so can we just... I don’t know. Cut the
in-character crap and talk normal with each other for once?”

“Isn’t it your job as an actor to embody the role? To know your character inside and out to
give the audience the illusion that you are Macbeth.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this, Munson, but no one who’s coming to see this gives a shit.
Half of them here will probably be attending for extra credit. All I want to do is to say the
lines, act out the moves, and try not to embarrass myself on stage. You good with that?”

“Completely,” Eddie replied while blinking up innocently at the other boy. “There’s no need
for such attitude, Harrington. I was only trying to help since we’re all professionals here.”

There were a few barks of laughter from the people around them, and Eddie couldn’t stop the
grin that spread across his face. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the attention that he got
when he acted out like this. It was why he jumped on tables and yelled rude things at jocks,
because it was the only way he knew how to get people to acknowledge him. If he didn’t
force people to see him then he’d be invisible, and Eddie hated being invisible.

“Munson!” Robin Buckley yelled over the chuckles of the crew.

Sitting up in the chair and glancing around, Eddie saw Robin stomping her way towards him
with a scowl on her face. The blood in his veins ran cold as he realized he’d alerted the Steve
Harrington Defense Squad’s only member. She wasn’t even supposed to be here since today’s
dress rehearsal didn’t involve any of the witches.

Eddie really couldn’t understand why Robin was so adamantly in Steve’s corner, to be
honest. When he’d brought it up to the other Hellfire members, most of them were convinced
Robin was playing the long game, waiting for Steve to get popular again so he could bring
her with him. Eddie disagreed, though. He was positive that if given the right incentive,
Robin would kill for Steve without batting an eye, which was why Eddie was not only
confused about her motivation but also completely terrified of her.

“Buckley!” he greeted warmly, casually rising off the throne. “What a pleasant surprise!”

Robin rolled her eyes. “Yeah, a total surprise that I’m at rehearsals for the play I’m in.”

“Except that we aren’t rehearsing the witches today.”

“I’m helping out the stage crew since Steve is my ride, asshole. If you paid attention to
anyone besides yourself then maybe you’d have noticed.”

Eddie bit his tongue with a grimace since she had him there, but it wasn’t because he only
paid attention to himself. He watched Steve a little too much and sometimes didn’t notice
Robin hanging in the wings. Despite the two being joined at the hip, she’d become
background noise after a couple of months, as unlike the rest of the student body, Eddie
didn’t believe that Robin and Steve were dating and felt they were more like conjoined twins
separated at birth.

Luckily, Mrs. Smith began clapping her hands to signal that she was ready to start and saved
Eddie from having to come up with an excuse as to why he hadn’t paid any attention to her.
That did mean he had to rehearse with Steve, whose scowl had gotten deeper during his
conversation with Robin. Eddie had a feeling in his gut that everything was about to go even
more sideways between him and Steve after this.

Steve confirmed Eddie’s hunch by shoulder checking him as he passed. He also shot Eddie a
small glare that clearly meant that Eddie should’ve bowed and groveled at Robin’s feet
instead of being a smartass to her. Though, that was what Eddie liked most about Steve. The
guy was protective as fuck of his friends, even back when he hung around Tommy H. and
Carol. Shame that loyalty would never be extended to Eddie.

“Let’s just get through the scene,” Steve said. “You can be a dick to me and my friends later.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was only making an observation.”

“Yeah, sure you were.”

Then, without waiting for a reply, Steve walked past him and sat on the throne. This scene
wasn’t supposed to take place in the throne room but out on the battlefield. Eddie understood
Mrs. Smith's reasoning, though. It was to symbolize that Macbeth feared retribution for his
actions so much that he fled and locked himself away to avoid facing all the wrong he’d
done. Be it out of guilt or the desire to stay in power was up to the audience to decide, but as
Steve said, there weren’t going to be many thespians watching, which meant a lot of the
meaning behind the change wouldn’t be recognized. At least he understood Mrs. Smith's
vision, and he was going to give it his all even if no one but him cared.

Eddie stood on his mark, getting himself into the mindset of Macduff. Macbeth murdered his
family and stole the crown. He felt anger, betrayal, sadness, and maybe a little lust in Mrs.
Smith’s version if that Star Wars fanzine he saw sitting on her desk was any indication of her
interests. Though maybe he’d downplay the lust, this was still Indiana, and he’d rather not be
chased out of town by a homophobic mob, thank you very much.

Once the scene started, it seemed to be going alright. Steve was still clearly angry at Eddie
about how he’d been so flippant with Robin, but that fed into the energy. They spat their lines
at each other with such pure venom that one might think Steve actually did kill the king of
Scotland. It gave Eddie goosebumps playing against someone with such raw emotions.

At least it did until their wooden prop swords clashed and the fight scene started. While
Eddie was strong due to lifting his own band equipment, Steve was naturally more athletic
and quickly gained the upper hand by quickening his movements, speeding through the steps
to knock Eddie off his game and curse his dice to roll all critical failures. It worked too, as
Eddie found himself stumbling sloppily despite practicing the choreography to perfection.
“Thou losest labour: As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air. With thy keen sword impress as
make me bleed: Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests.” Steve shot Eddie a cocky grin while
shaking his head. “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, to one of woman born.”

“Despair thy charm,” Eddie replied with a smirk and a low chuckle. “And let the angel whom
thou still hast served. Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb, untimely ripp’d!”

If Steve thought he could upstage Eddie, then he had another thing coming. The moment
Steve tried to mess up their fight scene again, Eddie swept Steve’s legs out from under him.
Steve hadn’t expected Eddie to fight back, so he was caught off guard and fell right on his ass
with a loud thud, shaking the theater and causing the lights above to flicker briefly as the
wiring was old and fickle.

Eddie felt the danger before he saw it. He’d been raised to be one-step ahead of the rest,
always knowing when to push and when to run. His dad had said that was the mark of a good
career criminal and poker player, not that his dear old man had been good at either of those.
So, when the hairs on the back of his neck rose, Eddie didn’t think, only reacted as he moved
the wooden sword to block his front.

CRACK.

As soon as Eddie held up his sword, Steve’s sword slammed against his. Eddie barely paid
attention to the painful recoil that ran up his arm as he met Steve’s eyes and couldn’t shake
the feeling that he was staring at a soldier haunted by war. Wayne got that look sometimes
when the Fourth of July fireworks were too loud, reminding his uncle of the horrible memory
that dragged him back to the battlefield without his permission.

“Cut!” Mrs. Smith yelled. “But don’t move! This is a perfect still for our posters!”

That was fine since Eddie didn’t think he could move even if he tried as his brain processing
screeched to a halt. Steve was a boring jock in the even more boring town of Hawkins. He
shouldn’t look haunted and on the verge of a breakdown. What had happened to Steve to scar
him so deeply? And how long had he been like this, too? Before their ride together? After?
Either answer didn’t sit right with Eddie and made his stomach feel queasy.

“Great! Thank you,” Mrs. Smith said. “Now, let’s take a quick break before we set up for the
next scene, okay?”

Eddie frowned, looking away from Steve for the first time as the rest of the world suddenly
came to life outside the strange bubble that had formed between the two of them. He searched
off-stage and saw that there was a girl with a camera walking away from them. The fact that
he didn’t notice her taking pictures made the moment between them feel even more intense,
more like they’d been together in a private bunker sixty feet underground instead.

Before Eddie could figure out what that meant, Robin roughly pushed past him and knelt next
to Steve, who still had his arm stretched out as if he was still waiting for another attack.
Robin stroked Steve’s bicep while slowing down her breathing, and soon Steve started to
match her breathing, arm relaxing slightly. Some eyes of the other crew were on them,
judging them, so Eddie shuffled over a bit, hoping to help give them some privacy by
standing in the way.

“Steve,” Robin said, “you’re in the auditorium. Those were stage lights. Nothing’s here.
There’s no danger. You’re okay. Everyone’s safe.”

“There’s no Demogorgon?” Steve asked dubiously.

“I don’t know what one looks like, but as far as I can tell, no monsters here.”

Eddie’s nose wrinkled in confusion. “Demogorgon?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” she said coldly without looking at him.

Wouldn’t understand!? Eddie’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at her reply. He was
the head of the school’s D&D club, damn it! If anyone would know what one of those was
then it’d be him, but despite how he behaved earlier, he knew better than to say any of that
out loud and cause an argument that might ruin the progress she made with Steve.

Instead, Eddie held his fist up to his mouth and chewed on the dead skin on his knuckles to
keep himself silent. He figured if Robin didn’t know that he was purposely trying to help
prevent prying eyes then she would’ve shooed him away by now. Staying quiet would let him
be here for Steve, because try as he might, he really did care for the guy and his ridiculous
hair.

“Nothing’s here, Steve,” Robin said. “I promise.”

“Nothing’s here,” Steve repeated.

“Yep. You’re safe. Everyone’s safe.”

That statement seemed to finally get through to Steve as his arm dropped to his side. He
released the sword, letting it rest on the stage beside him. Robin then brought up her hand so
she could rub between Steve’s shoulder blades to help him relax further.

Steve sighed. “I don’t think I can do any more scenes today.”

“That’s fine. You get changed,” she assured him. “I’ll tell Mrs. Smith that you're not feeling
well and ask if we can go home early.”

“Thanks, Robs. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably die in a ditch somewhere.” Robin playfully hit his shoulder with a small smile.
“Just kidding, dingus. I know you’d be fine. You have to have more faith in yourself.”

“Nope, pretty sure you got it right the first time. Definitely dead in a ditch without you.”

Robin snorted and reached up to mess with Steve’s hair, but he playfully slapped her hand
away to stop her. Instead, Robin gave Steve a quick pat on the shoulder then used it as
leverage so she could get to her feet. She shot a glare at Eddie and used two fingers to motion
back and forth from her eyes to Eddie, clearly telling him that she’d be watching him, before
she hopped off the stage to go search for Mrs. Smith.

“Harrington, you gonna be okay?” Eddie asked him.

Startled, Steve’s attention turned to Eddie as if he hadn’t realized that he’d been standing
there. That made sense, though. The guy just got through a panic attack, and Eddie had been
hovering quietly off to the side, but it didn’t make the situation any less awkward as Steve’s
gaze roved over him cautiously like he was waiting for the punchline.

“I-” Eddie began. “I’m just- If I’d known that it was a trigger or something for you, I
wouldn’t have tripped you. So... my bad, alright?”

“You wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been purposely trying to mess you up during the fight
scene, so it’s my bad, too.”

Eddie held out his hand to Steve. “Let’s just say it was both our faults and call a truce for
now.”

“Sounds good to me, Munson.”

Steve hesitated for a moment before he took Eddie’s hand, his thumb oddly stroking the back
of Eddie’s hand while Steve tightened his grip. The movement of Steve’s thumb caused a
small, shivering spark to run up Eddie’s spine, and his stomach to churn like there were bats
fluttering around inside him. Eddie ignored the feeling, even as he felt himself blushing
slightly, since there was no way Steve had stroked his hand like that on purpose.

Tightening his grip, Eddie pulled Steve to his feet then instantly let go of his hand, taking a
step back before he could misread anymore of Steve’s accidental brushes. He, also, tried not
to read too much into Steve’s disappointed sigh when Eddie stepped back. No one Eddie had
a crush on had ever liked him back. There was no reason for him to get delusional because
Steve was being a little nice to him.

“I’m going to go get changed,” Steve said while biting his lip. “See you next time.”

“Yeah, see you.”

A pregnant pause stretched between the two of them, as if they were both waiting for the
other to do something. Steve took the initiative and gave Eddie a small wave goodbye, which
Eddie returned awkwardly, before turning to walk then jog away. He didn’t even remember to
take his prop sword with him as he disappeared into the wings. It didn’t matter. Eddie could
grab it for him just this once.

Snorting, Eddie mocked himself for pining after Steve to the point where he would willingly
be his errand boy without Steve needing to ask. He swung his sword lightly through the air as
if to slash away the gay thoughts clouding his mind. Mid-swing, however, the wooden sword
cracked in half and the tip clattered onto the ground.
Eddie stared down at the broken piece of wood blankly. How’d that happen? He didn’t swing
the sword that roughly. Had it cracked during that intense moment after Eddie had knocked
Steve to the floor? But from where Steve’s sword lay forgotten on the stage, Eddie could see
that it was intact without a scratch on it. Both of the swords would’ve been damaged if Steve
had struck hard enough to splinter the wood of Eddie’s sword, right?

Eddie bent down to pick up Steve’s sword, only to find that it was unnaturally heavy, like he
could smash through the floorboards of the stage if he swung it with enough force. Had
someone from the props department sabotaged Steve’s sword? The person was clearly against
both him and Steve since they made it so Steve would be the patsy if he injured Eddie.
Though that theory seemed a little outlandish even for him. Maybe he needed another
perspective to brainstorm possibilities.

Noticing Gareth walking by, Eddie grabbed him by the collar and tugged him back. Gareth let
out a surprised squawk as he flailed his arms to prevent himself from falling. He glared at
Eddie while he smoothed out his shirt, though there was no heat in his gaze, so Gareth was
only mildly annoyed by Eddie, which was normal for the two of them.

“You couldn’t have just said, ‘Hey Gareth, mind chatting with me for a bit?’” Gareth asked in
annoyance. “I would’ve stopped, you know.”

“Sorry, just need to ask something. Do you know if someone tampered with these swords?”

Then Eddie held up both swords for Gareth to inspect. Gareth frowned at Eddie’s broken
sword and felt it over in his hand before moving to Steve’s sword. His eyes widened when he
felt the heft that the sword carried. He gazed at Eddie, and Eddie thought that he was thinking
the same thing as him, that Steve had been set up by someone.

“Dude, is Harrington trying to kill you!?” Gareth asked. “This feels like it’s made of cement!
If it hit you, you’d be in the hospital right now. No joke.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Great detective work, Gare-Bear. He totally wanted to murder me in
front of everyone and get instantly arrested.”

“Then what’s your theory, Sherlock? Because from where I’m standing, Harrington is the
only one who could’ve done this.”

“The game is afoot, Gareth. I’ve only just begun to unravel the mystery behind the sabotaged
sword. I’ll obviously need more clues so I can track down the culprit and discover their
motives for concocting this intricate ruse.”

Gareth snorted. “Still think it was Harrington, but I’ll ask around. Only so I can prove you
wrong, though.”

“Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

“It’s fine. Don’t want to see my friend’s head get smashed in with a cement sword, you
know?”
 Eddie laughed, and then after a few more platitudes, he let Gareth get back to helping the
stage crew. As Gareth walked away, Eddie looked down at the swords still in his hands. He
decided to take them with him to show Steve. Maybe Steve would know who replaced the
swords, and even if he didn’t, it was best not to leave him in the dark about the saboteur.

It’d have to wait, however. Steve would’ve changed and left by now. That was okay since
Eddie knew where he was going to be that night. It was the same place he was every Monday
night, which was at the arcade with his ducklings. Eddie had seen them once or twice when
he stopped by to drop off the weed Keith ordered and oddly found Steve’s motherly routine
adorable. Not that Eddie was going so he could watch Steve’s mama bear act. He was only
going for business and strictly business only.

Chapter End Notes

Wanted to make a quick note to assure you that Steve isn't going to become part of any
branch of law enforcement in this fic.

If you enjoyed this, feel free to stop by my Tumblr, Steddie-Antihero, and Twitter,
LouderSwine, for a chat. Come find out how unfunny I am!
Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!