5. If Your Chains Are Heavy

Steve sees Eddie three more times that week, and the way he acts around Steve hasn't changed. The first time, Steve had prepared himself for an awkward, stilted conversation as Eddie had stepped into Family Video on a Tuesday afternoon. Instead, Eddie had slapped a tape on the counter with a grin.

"Okay, so this is technically overdue. But, what point is there having a friend who works here if they're not going to waive the late fee? Just this once."

Steve takes the tape (Amityville Horror) and punches it into the system. It's technically four days overdue, meaning Eddie owes a dollar, but Steve cancels the popup and shrugs.

"Did you at least rewind it?"

"I'm not an animal, Harrington."

Steve smiles as he sets the tape back into the return pile. Eddie has his arms folded on the counter, head tilted up at Steve with a smile.

"You look bored as shit, man."

"That would be because I am."

Video Vault offers movie rentals for a dollar if you buy something from their candy section, which means Tuesdays at Family Video are a deserted wasteland.

"I'd offer you my company but the band is playing tonight. First time since," Eddie waves a hand, which has become their shorthand for that time we almost died because of the alternate dimension.

"Have fun. Just know I'm here, bored to death." Steve offers, and Eddie laughs.

"I'll dedicate a song just for you. For my friend Steve, a slave to the hellscape of Family Video."

"That's the spirit."

The second time is only in passing, the very next day when Steve drops Robin off and she almost runs directly into Eddie on her way out of the car. He's wearing sunglasses and is so clearly hungover that Steve takes pity and throws a water bottle at him from the glovebox, followed by a granola bar.

"God, you're fantastic," Eddie breathes after sucking back the entire bottle in one go, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and crumpling the plastic with the other. The granola bar goes in his pocket.

"If you throw up on me in fourth period today, I will be so pissed." Robin says, walking side by side with him to the entrance of the school.

The third time Steve sees him is very different. He'd dropped the kids off for their Thursday Hellfire Club meeting as usual, spent two hours with Robin at Family Video, spinning uselessly in the single chair they have behind the desk and half listening to Robin make recommendations to the customers. They talk about Vickie, about Robin's grades. Robin admits that she's applied to a lot of colleges but doesn't know if she's even ready to go yet, doesn't know if she is ready to be alone to deal with all of the things she knows about the world. She hasn't told her parents yet, but she seems to have already spent a lot of time considering it.

"It's one year off," she says easily, "I'd be able to save more money, and get more experience. I'm not... I'm not even sure I want to go to college anymore, you know? The world is so much bigger than I thought it was."

He doesn't disagree with her, and he'd never try and stop her from doing what she really wanted. But he does, privately, wonder if she's trying to talk herself out of leaving Hawkins for other reasons. Reasons like Vickie being a junior and not part of the '86 graduating class. He can't really judge, he had thought that he would wait around in Hawkins for Nancy, back then. Things had definitely changed.

When he pulls up to the school at two minutes to eight, he waits in his usual spot, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the ABBA song playing on the radio and singing along. It isn't until the song has ended and there is still no sign of the kids that he begins to worry.

Hellfire, as a rule, never runs late. It's part of the agreement to let the club use the school after hours that everyone has cleared out by 8pm so the janitor can lock up by 8:30. But it's 8:05 and there's no sign of Eddie or the kids, and it's making Steve nervous. He scans the parking lot again, finding the usual cars of the other members and Eddie's van, but there's something else the catches his eye this time.

Parked haphazardly just outside the school boundary is Jason Carver's car.

Steve is out of the Beemer in an instant, not bothering to shut the door as he heads inside. He hears raised voices and yelling and slams open the door to Hellfire in time to see Jason throw Eddie's DM board across the room, pieces flying everywhere.

"You shitty little freak! You think anyone is ever going to believe you didn't do this? Ever going to forgive you for being part of it? I WAS THERE. I KNOW YOU WERE PART OF THIS! I KNOW WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED! I SAW IT!"

Steve tries to close the distance but Jason is on a roll, grabbing Will by the arm and yanking him forward. Will makes a broken, terrified noise as Jason shakes his arm.

"And you and all your little faggot friends-"

Steve sees red and his fist connects with Carver's nose. The crack is more satisfying that it has any right to be, and Steve should leave it at that but he grabs the front of Jason's shirt and slams him against the wall, letting his head hit the concrete. Steve can smell beer on Carver's breath as he leans in. Steve sees Will scramble out of his peripheral; a large, ringed hand wrapped protectively around his shoulder.

"Listen to me very carefully," he begins, voice low and dangerous, "you've made a big mistake tonight Jason. Very big."

"Let me go, you fucking psycho! I'll call the fucking cops, you could have broken my nose."

Steve yanks the front of his shirt again, "No, Jason. You're not going to call the cops because you have a reputation in this town. You might be able to pay off colleges and your friends, but the cops here remember that you tried to start a town mob on a group of fucking kids playing a goddamn game. They remember that you ran your mouth about devil worship because you wanted an excuse to hurt someone. The cops in this town think you're a spoiled brat, and a joke."

Steve doesn't know what the government told Jason to explain what he saw that night, but he imagines it was explained away as some kind of drug induced hallucination. Either way, Jason has never mentioned it, but Hopper is still friendly with everyone at the station and Steve knows the Carver's reputation has been in the dirt since the end of Vecna's reign of terror.

"You're also going to have to get them to believe that I punched you, when you've got no witnesses. Because nobody in this room, and I mean nobody is going to defend you. So make this easy and just walk away while I'm still willing to let you."

"You're a fucking freak, Harrington. You could have been so much more than this." Jason spits, and Steve smiles.

"Let me share a secret, Jason. Once you graduate, nobody cares how cool you were in high school. Nobody. You're just some guy who made it through the pipeline; with no personality and no life skills. So do yourself a favour, and start trying to at least act like a good person. It'll get you further than anything else. Now, I'm going to let you go, and you're going to leave. You're not going to come back here while Hellfire are meeting, and you're not even going to look in their direction ever again. Because if I hear even a suggestion that you laid a single finger on them, I will personally break every bone in your hand. One by one. Okay?"

Steve faced down demodogs with a bat. Steve infiltrated a Russian base. Steve has a scar on his side from where bats from an alternate dimension ripped out his skin and muscle. He's not scared of Jason Carver. He lets go and steps back, daring Carver to make a move. His nose is bleeding, eye already starting to swell.

"Fucking freak," he spits as he stumbles out into the hall, disappearing into the night.

Steve takes two deep, steadying breaths before he turns around. Eddie has an arm around Will, who is staring at Steve like he's never seen him before.

"Is everyone okay?"

His voice is calmer than he feels, and he lets his eyes drag over the kids, over the older ones he doesn't really know, and then to Eddie.

"We're fine." One of the guys says, Steve doesn't know his name but he's standing in front of Mike and Lucas like he'd been trying to protect them and Steve likes him already, "are you?"

Steve looks down to see his clenched hand shaking ever so slightly. He nods, flexing his hand a bit before he crouches down and begins picking up the scattered remains of the D&D game. Nobody says anything as they clean up, packing away the dice and the figures, the reams of paper and various D&D books.

"Don't leave yet," Steve says as one of the guys- Gary? Gareth?- grabs his backpack, "Carver's an idiot and his friends are twice as stupid. Don't go outside by yourself, any of you."

He's not trying to scare them, he's really not. Eddie shelves all of the items and grabs his jacket and lunchbox, "Harrington's right. We'll all leave together."

The four kids are so quiet it's making Steve sick. Will has a red mark on his arm, but seems otherwise physically unharmed. Lucas looks so guilty that Steve wants to reach out and offer some kind of assurance, but he doesn't have it in him right now. Mike is flanking Will's right side, eyes darting towards him every few moments as they he wants to say something. Dustin has a death grip on his own set of dice, jaw clenched.

"Everyone ready?"

Steve leaves first, walking slowly through the parking lot and looking for any sign that someone was out there. Jason's car was gone, knocking over a sign in the process. When he was finally sure they were safe, he waved his hand. The Hellfire club trooped out, the older three in the front and Eddie at the end, the four freshmen sandwiched in the middle.

"Get in the car."

There's no fight over the front seat, no annoyed groan about whoever was forced into the middle of the backseat. The other members of the club climb in their respective vehicles and pull away, leaving only Eddie.

"You good?"

Eddie shrugs, "I'm fine, I've had worse. Is Will okay?"

Steve looks over his shoulder to see Will in the passenger seat, his friends crowded around him from the back, all talking quietly.

"Dunno. He's had worse, I guess. If Carver ever comes back-"

"You'll be the first to know," Eddie says quietly. Steve can see the guilt in his eyes as he watches Will, who has his knees tucked up to his chest.

"You didn't cause this."

"I did." Eddie says flatly, "as long as I'm running Hellfire there's going to be something people have to say about it."

There's something about the way he says it that makes Steve pause, taking a step forward and catching Eddie's eye.

"This isn't the first time he's said something to you, is it? The kids would have told me if he'd done it around them, but he's still been bothering you, hasn't he? Why didn't you say anything?"

Eddie smiles, tight and humorless, "I'm still a freak, Harrington. Nobody knows I saved the world but you, remember?"

"Eddie-"

"I've got to get home, Steve. Thanks for what you did."

The door to the van slams and Steve wishes he had something to say that could make it better. He heads back to his car and slides into the front seat, gripping the wheel tight in his hands.

"Are you sure you're all okay?"

Dustin is the first to speak, exploding with anger, "Carver just burst in for no reason, screaming like crazy! He was saying all that shit about Eddie, everyone knows he didn't do anything! And he grabbed Will!"

"We need to do something!" Mike interjects, and Lucas loudly agrees. Will is quiet, still curled up on the passenger seat.

"I will do something," Steve promises, "the four of you don't need to do anything."

"We should do something." Dustin said, louder this time. Steve pulls up at a stop sign and turns in his seat, looking at the three seriously.

"I know that you guys want to do something, and I get it. I really do. But Jason Carver is dangerous, and an idiot. You can't just go headfirst into revenge because something bad could happen."

"But Steve, he can't get away with this!"

"And he won't, but I need you guys to trust me to handle it."

They don't argue, but he can tell that they want to. Steve drops off Lucas and Mike as usual, but sighs and rubs his face when the door to the Wheeler house closes.

"I'm going to drop you off first tonight, okay Dustin? I need to talk to Hopper."

"Hopper? Why?"

"Because Jason is an idiot," Steve repeats patiently, "and Hopper needs to know this happened, so he can make sure the cops know it happened. I told you I would do something and this is me doing something."

Dustin so obviously wants to argue and Steve braves himself for it, but is surprised when Will's voice reaches his ears instead.

"Steve's right, it's better we do it this way."

Dustin's doesn't seem to have an argument against Will's defence, and the car falls into a blissful silence. Dustin claps Will on the shoulder on his way out if the car, turning back to Steve with a half smile.

"That was pretty badass tonight, Steve."

"I'm glad you thought so."

The drive to Will's house is disturbingly quiet. Even though Will had never been the most chatty of the bunch, this level of silence didn't inspire anything good in Steve. Steve pulls into the driveway of the Byers-Hopper house and cuts the engine. He's about to climb out when he feels Will's hand on his arm.

"Thank you for tonight."

Steve sighs, "Don't thank me. He had no right to grab you like that, or call you that shit. You weren't even there for most of it, he was just lashing out. If he ever comes near you again, Will-"

"He was right."

Will's voice is barely above a whisper and Steve is so sure he's heard wrong.

"What?"

Will has his eyes fixed on the dashboard, breath shaky and hands trembling. Steve has a flashback of a filthy bathroom floor with lights that are way too bright, a girl he liked so damn much practically vibrating with fear as she told him about his stupid hair and stupid bagel crumbs. He waits, giving Will every ounce of his attention.

"I said... Jason was right. When- when he called me a- a-"

"Don't," Steve says softly, the very real clarity of what was happening right now settling it, "you don't have to use that word just because he did."

Tears spill over onto Will's cheeks and he sobs, raw and hurting and Steve reaches out across the console to pull him in to an awkward hug.

"I like boys," Will cries into his chest, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I promise I tried-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Will, it's okay. You don't have to apologize for this. Not now, not ever, do you understand?"

Will is still crying into Steve's shirt, sniffing wetly and wiping at his eyes as he pulls away.

"I tried so hard to like girls, Steve. I did, I promise. But I don't and I can't and I'm so scared. What if the party hates me? They're going to know, Jason knew! What if my Mom-"

He starts crying again and brings a hand to his mouth to try and stifle the sound.

"Will," Steve begins softly, "nobody is going to hate you. Especially not your mom, okay? Your mom loves you more than anything in this entire world, she fought so hard to bring you back from everything you've been through and there is nothing that is ever going to change that. Especially not this, not ever."

Will is wiping his eyes again, taking deep, gasping breaths. He's still shaking as he looks up at Steve, who smiles.

"I'm proud of you for telling me that, okay? It's not easy, I know."

The words slip out before he can stop them and there's a flash of shock in Will's eyes.

"Do- are you... Do you like boys too?"

The sick feeling is back in Steve's gut, heavy and eating away at him. He could say no, play it off as a slip of the tongue. But Will had opened up to him, trusted him with something that clearly plagued him every day. Steve takes a breath.

"Sometimes, yeah."

Will looks dumbstruck, and Steve gives the information a moment to sink in before he elaborates.

"I like girls too. But sometimes, sometimes I like boys."

Will is staring. Steve waits a moment, smiling softly as Will seems to catch himself and ducks his head, blushing.

"Sorry, I just... I don't know anyone else like me."

Steve wants to tell him about Robin, but it isn't his place and it isn't his secret.

"It's not... Easy," Steve offers, and Will nods with understanding, "but if you need anything. I'm here."

Will is chewing on his bottom lip and he nods. There's a tense pause before he speaks again, quieter than before.

"I told Jonathan. He said the same thing. But I don't think he gets it kind of like you would. Nobody else knows though, I thought tonight that Jason might have-"

"No. Jason throws that word around everywhere, he doesn't know shit."

Steve isn't thinking about the fact that Will told him this, when the only other person he had confided in was his brother. It's heavy in his heart in the best way and Steve grips Will's shoulder.

"I need to tell Hopper and your mom about what happened tonight, okay? But I don't have to mention exactly what Jason said, not if it's going to make it weird for you."

Will seems to weigh the option carefully, chewing again on his lower lip until it's raw and red.

"You can tell them," he says quietly. "Do I have to be there?"

"Not if you don't want to be."

Will nods, staring out at his house with wide eyes. They've been in the driveway ten minutes now, and Steve hasn't ever been later dropping Will home. Joyce is going to start to worry, and Will seems to catch onto the thought. He wipes his face and nods one more time, offering Steve a hesitant smile.

"We can go. I'm ready now."

The porch light is on and the front door unlocked, Will ducking inside and immediately heading to his room. El is on the couch and watches him go, her eyes falling on Steve.

"Something bad?"

Steve nods, and he can see the panic begin to rise on El's face.

"Nothing like that," he assures her, "but I need to talk to your dad and Joyce."

"They're in the kitchen," El says softly, sliding off the couch and heading down the hallway where Will had disappeared. Steve stands awkwardly at the doorway to the kitchen, raising his hand to knock on the wall to announce himself. Joyce and Hopper are at the kitchen table, laughing and smiling with their hands wrapped around cups of coffee. Joyce sees Steve first and she frowns.

"Steve honey, what are you doing here? Is everything okay? Where's Will?"

She relaxes when Steve tells her Will is in his room, but Hopper is watching Steve closely. He was always perceptive, being a cop and all. But his time in Russia has given him an almost uncanny ability to read people. He pulls out a chair with one hand.

"What happened?"

Steve explains, watching as Hopper's grip tightens on the mug when he reaches the part where Jason had grabbed Will, what he had said.

"I punched him," Steve says honestly and without a modicum of regret, "I threatened to break his hand if ever looked in the direction of any of the kids. But this can't happen again. I told him the cops wouldn't give a shit if he reported it, but I don't know how true it is."

"They won't. Or if they do, the paperwork would take an awful long time." Hopper says darkly. Joyce has her hands in her lap and Steve can see she is wringing them together, head shaking back and forth.

"I don't understand why they let him just stay here after what he did," she whispers, "he tried to turn the entire town against them for murder when they didn't do anything."

"I don't know why either," Steve says, "but I think we might be able to get them to do something now."

"Why?"

Steve explains what Jason had been yelling about, saying he had seen what happened, knew what really happened.

"I assume the government wouldn't be happy to hear some small town jock might expose their whole 'breaking into an alternate universe' plan. Jason might not actually know anything, according to Eddie he watched when Vecna killed Patrick, so he just know that something weird is going on in Hawkins. But he's loud, and he's persistent, and if he's loud enough around the right people, they might start looking into things they shouldn't. Can't be good for Reagan if someone manages to dig deep enough to find out that everything happening in Hawkins is a giant conspiracy and coverup. Even worse if someone finds out that there were Russians living under Hawkins and nobody noticed."

Except a group of teenagers slinging ice cream for three dollars an hour

Hopper nods, his jaw still clenched and hand gripping the coffee mug handle like it's the only thing keeping him steady.

"Dr Owens left us his information in case anything happened with El and her powers. I'll contact him tonight, see if he can get us in touch with the right people. I'll call the boys at the station as well, have them keep an eye on Jason. Officially, this is privileged information," he says, staring Steve down, "but Jason Carver only got away with starting that mob because his parents threw at a lot of money in the right places, but he's still supposed to be on his best behaviour. And this sure doesn't sound like it to me."

It should feel like overkill, Steve thinks. Setting the government on Jason for this. But Steve remembers those nights when Vecna was terrorizing them. Remembers Eddie's terrified face as he held a broken bottle to Steve's throat, the way his voice had cracked when he said, eyes wide 'hunt the freak, right?'. Eddie tonight, who has been putting up with Jason's shit since that night and said nothing. The red mark on Will's arm and his hot, wet tears in the crook of Steve's neck. Jason Carver put hands on one of the kids, and Steve would do whatever it took to make sure he didn't get away with that. Even if it meant the nuclear option.

Steve is done letting the people he loves get hurt.

Joyce offers him coffee, but he declines. The adrenaline is wearing off and a weariness like he hasn't felt before has replaced it. The conversation with Will is playing over and over in his head, his own confession on his mind. He's told someone other than Robin now. It makes it somehow so much more real.

He gets a tight hug from Joyce before he leaves, her arms around his back and her forehead pressed into his chest.

"I don't think we tell you enough how much we appreciate you, Steve," she whispers as she pulls back and takes his face gently in her palms, "you're so good with the kids, and so important to them. You've all been through way too much. I love you so much, honey."

Steve let's himself sink into her embrace, his eyes falling closed for a moment as the words wash over him. He can't remember the last time his mother told him she loves him. Joyce presses a gentle kiss to his cheek and he sits in his car for a long time, the weight of the evening on his shoulders.

He was just getting used to not being so tired.

The phone is ringing when he finally comes inside and Steve just misses it. He's walking away when it rings again, and he picks it up hesitantly.

"Harrington residence, Steve speaking."

There's nothing on the other end, and Steve sighs tiredly.

"Come on, I know someone is there-"

"Hey."

Eddie voice is hesitant, as though he isn't sure he should have called. Steve braces a hand on the wall and leans against it.

"Hey."

He waits for Eddie to say something, waits a long time as Eddie clearly struggles with his words on the other end.

"Look. I was a dick in the parking lot tonight."

"Not really."

Eddie sighs, "Steve, I'm trying to make an apology here."

"Right, my bad. Go ahead."

He feels like he can tell Eddie is smiling, but there's no real way for him to ever know.

"I hate that Hellfire has a bad rep because of me. It was hard enough when people were just avoiding the kids in the hallways but Carver tonight-"

"Sorry, I know is is meant to be an apology but I should probably let you know that you don't need to worry about Carver. Its being handled."

Steve thinks of Joyce's soft hands on his face, the quiet storm of rage that was so much more terrifying than any anger he has seen his from own mother. Of Hopper's quiet phone call to the police station, explaining that Jason Carver was out and about making a nuisance of himself again, directly in violation of his agreement with the police and isn't that a shame? Hopper speaking to Dr. Owens, voice raised as he explains that the government's loose ends is causing trouble and they can fix it- or Hopper would.

"That's ominous."

"Not really."

It kind of is, actually. These are the people who made a fake body of Will Byers. Who have crafted multiple cover ups without blinking an eye. Jason Carver should be scared. But Eddie doesn't need to know that.

"Look, I have to go. But I didn't want you to think I was a dick, so..."

"Unnecessary apology accepted," Steve assures him, but can't help but squeeze in the last word.

"You don't deserve to be treated like shit just because people think you're a freak. Don't let them make you think that."

"Don't get soft on me, Steve. It's just how things are. I'm used to it."

He's hung up before Steve gets to say anything else.

If Steve sees Jason again, he's making sure he breaks his nose for real this time.

Robin comes in to Family Video the next day, five minutes before her shift and hurriedly throwing on her uniform.

"Eddie told me what happened last night, Dustin assures me it was badass. Did you really almost break his nose?"

"Wish I'd broken his jaw. Would have been a better way to make sure he doesn't run his mouth."

"Jesus, Steve. You're not wrong, but wow. Papa bear mode activated."

The subject drops, thankfully. Steve was so keyed up about everything that he'd barely slept, the fight and the conversation with Will playing on an endless loop in his mind. He had told someone other than Robin that he liked guys. The thought still made his stomach hurt, but he trusted Will to not say anything.

Speaking of Will...

"Can I ask you something?"

Robin is tapping a pen on the desk, frowning at the computer as the cursor spins uselessly, "Sure."

Steve has been trying to figure out the wording on his question for a while now. Thankfully, the Friday afternoon rush hasn’t started and they've been left to their own devices for going on twenty minutes now. Nightmare on Elm Street has been playing for forty minutes and twenty seconds, a new store record.

"Steve? You were going to ask me something?"

Robin has turned her whole attention on him and Steve sighs.

"Someone told me something. Kind of similar to that thing that you told me that night at Starcourt."

Robin's eyes widen and she drops the pen, hurrying over to stand close to him and drop her voice, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Yes. And it was clearly something that was eating them up inside, and I want to help make them not feel like they're some kind of freak,"

Robin's face does something weird but Steve continues, "I told them. About me. It's the first time I've said it out loud since I told you."

"How did it feel?"

"Good. Awful. I thought I might puke. Totally possible I still might, actually."

Robin smiles her soft, special smile that she only uses sometimes when she's feeling particularly mushy about something. Steve continues, not feeling worthy of her smile just yet.

"Anyway, look. I'm not good with the words and stuff like you are, and I need help. But I can't tell you who they are or what they said because they told me and I don't want to, like, violate their trust or any of that shit."

"I mean, gay people can kind of sense each other, Steve. I might already know."

The thought makes Steve pause, frowning thoughtfully, "You know someone else who is gay? Like actually? Not just maybe like Vickie?"

Robin looks caught in the headlights and immediately backtracks, "Well, no. But I mean, just, uh..."

Robin is flustered, he can tell by the way she keeps tucking her hair behind her ears and picking up random objects just to put them down again.

"Well, I mean, it's not like we're unicorns or something. Two out of two people in this room alone aren't completely heterosexual, Steve. Which is a lot, if we were talking about unicorns. Oh my god, do you think unicorns are actually real in the Upside Down?"

"Kind of really doubt it." Steve drawls, watching her stumble over herself and deciding to put her out if her misery.

"They said they've only told one other person, so I don't think you would already know."

Robin's eyes are narrowed and Steve knows she knows more than she's letting on, but he doesn't hold it against her. She finally sighs and picks up the pen again, twirling it between her fingers.

"How about this? You give me a hint who it is because I'm your best friend, and I like girls, and I can help you help this person. If I guess, you didn't really tell me. I will say nothing to whoever this person is until they tell me themselves, I won't drop even a single hint in their direction. Cross my heart."

Steve weighs the option carefully, still unsure. Robin tries again, lifting herself up onto the counter and crossing her legs.

"Okay, how about this. Do I know them?"

"Yes."

"Is it... Someone you've been hanging out with?"

"Robin, the only people I actually hang out with are you and Eddie."

Robin's face does a weird thing again, and she rushes into another question.

"Okay then. Are they our age?"

"No."

"Older?"

"No."

Robin frowns.

"Wait. Is it one of the kids?"

"Yes."

Robin's eyes widen, "Oh my god. Was it Max?"

"What?"

"What?"

"Max? That's your guess?"

Robin throws her hands in the air, "There’s a vibe, Steve!"

Steve blinks in confusion, but shakes his head, "No, it wasn't Max."

Robin taps the pen on the counter, her mouth suddenly making a soft o of understanding.

"It was Will, wasn't it?"

The fact that Will was her second guess (After Max, which he would have to ask about later) makes him feel a little better. He wasn't the only one who noticed, then. Steve nods, and Robin smiles.

"There was a bit of a vibe there, too. I used to look at Tammy Thompson just like that. What did you tell him?"

Steve recounts the conversation and Robin kicks out a foot to kick him gently in the leg, "You did good, Stevie."

"Really, because I don't feel like I did."

"You told him he wasn't alone, and that means a lot. Trust me."

Steve lifts himself up onto the counter knocking his shoulder against hers. He's still stuck on how she reacted, the flustered movements and the babbling.

"There's someone else, isn't there? That you know about."

Robin sighs and hooks her ankle around Steve's. "It's not my secret to tell."

Steve understands. He knows Robin doesn't go around advertising his secret to everyone, so he isn't upset. There's something comforting though, something helpful in knowing that there are other people here in Hawkins that are the same as them. There's a shimmer of guilt in his chest for telling her about Will, but Robin is still at Hawkins High, Robin can keep an eye on him where Steve can't. Robin can stop Steve saying something stupid, provide the insight of someone who has known for longer than Steve has.

The computer finally starts working again and Robin slips off the counter with a muttered 'finally'. The air conditioning is whining overhead, there are kids running past outside, fresh out of school and ready for the weekend. The Friday evening rush starts, and Steve doesn't even care that he doesn't have a date tonight.

Steve told someone who wasn't Robin that he liked boys as well as girls and the world didn't end.

The giant weight in his gut shifts just slightly, relieving the smallest amount of pressure. Robin shoots him a smile from where she is helping a pretty brunette find Sixteen Candles in the stacks, mouthing 'she's single' when the girls turns around and catches Steve's eye, immediately offering him a flirty wink.

Steve waits until the customers eyes have scanned away and he points surreptitiously over his shoulder at the twenty something year old crouched down in one of the aisles, jeans pulled taught over his thighs and his sleeves rolled up over his forearms

‘He's cuter’ he mouths at Robin. It's the first time he's ever pointed out a guy to her before, and they both seem to realise the significance. Robin gives him a thumbs up and returns to stacking tapes. Steve hands over Sixteen Candles to the girl (Jennifer. Eighteen. Leaving for college in the Fall), takes the number she has written on a bubblegum wrapper and shoves it in his pocket. He watches the guy (David. Twenty two. Lives out of town but is here helping the reconstruction of the road through Hawkins) walk away, jeans as tight across his ass as they had been his thighs.

It's going to be okay.

Things are going to be fine.

The doorbell jingles and Eddie steps inside, leather jacket and jean vest still on despite the weather. Eddie smiles and Steve sees the dimple on his cheek. Eddie sweeps a dramatic arm out for Robin as she passes by and she laughs. Steve feels like his stomach is going to burst from the intense flutters, but this time there no weed to blame for it.

Oh.

Fuck.

"Hey."

Eddie is at the front desk, elbows on the counter and leaning in to smile at him.

"Hey," Steve manages to reply, looking down at his tapes with sudden interest. Eddie is drumming his nail- his painted nails, Steve notes, on the countertop.

"So I was thinking, maybe you, Buckley and I could do something this weekend? I heard milkshakes were in order and Buckley is buying."

Robin's protesting 'hey!' goes ignored and Steve looks up at Eddie, who tilts his head in confusion.

"You good, dude?"

He's acting weird and Eddie has noticed. Steve smiles.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm good. Milkshakes sound great. Tomorrow night after close? Wilson's is open late."

Eddie leans back, gripping the counter for balance, "you hear that, Robin?"

"I'm not buying you a milkshake!" Is the reply from the stacks.

Eddie turns back to Steve, smile wide and uncaring.

"That's fine. You'll buy me a milkshake, won't you Steve? Please?"

Steve has a brief thought of Eddie's lips around a milkshake straw and grips the counter tight where Eddie can't see.

"Yeah, course I will."

Eddie pumps his fist into the air in victory, “You’re fantastic, Harrington, really.”

Robin emerges from the maze of video tapes and she and Eddie discuss their shared classes of the day while Steve stands there, slowly processing his realization.

Eddie fucking Munson.

He likes Eddie Munson.

Eddie looks away from Robin and catches Steve looking, smiling and inclining his head to invite Steve into the conversation.

Steve is so fucked.