#LIKE you're gonna have jonathan say 'who wouldve been in charge? steve?' and then have nancy push back against it

[reikunrei]

i know i’ve already talked about this half a dozen times but i’m really sooo so excited to see Steve and Jonathan interact more. like, it’s obviously been set up that at this point they have to be teamed up in some way, and i’m just chomping at the bit for that kind of interaction.

like, it’ll probably be against both of their wills in some way, or at the very least against Jonathan’s, and so now they’re stuck together and it’s awkward because neither of them really know each other. and they’ve saved each others lives like a dozen times at this point, and watched each other kick ass again and again, but like...

Steve probably still thinks about the fact that Jonathan took those sneaky photos in his back yard, and while Jonathan did apologize to Nancy for it, he and Steve never talked about it again. and Jonathan definitely still thinks about all the shit Steve said before they had their fist fight (how the Byers are a bunch of screw ups, how it’s not surprising that Will “died,” how they all deserved it, etc.) because of course he’d still hold a grudge over that! it was shitty!

and even if they’ve saved each others lives several times now, that doesn’t automatically negate the shitty things they’ve said or done to each other on a personal level. and the fact that Jonathan still defaulted to making a jab at Steve about him being unable to be “in charge” proves that he still thinks that, to some degree, Steve is still very much like he was in high school. like, he knows that, on some level, Steve has changed, having likely heard tons of praise from the younger kids... but how much of it does he really believe, you know? it’s a high stakes situation, of course Steve is gonna try to save people... but what about when they’re outside of a high stakes situation?

as the audience, we’ve seen Steve steadily improving across all seasons, and he really didn’t learn how to be a wholly “good person” until the very end of season 3, i think, and his friendship with Robin was just the beginning of that growth tbh, at least by way of changing the way he thinks about and views the world and his relationships with other people. but Jonathan has seen, like, basically none of it first hand. they don’t hang out, they don’t talk. hell, even after the season 1 fight with the demogorgon, we learn (in season 2) that Jonathan just “disappeared,” per Nancy’s words. Jonathan didn’t stick around, and we see that, when Steve appears, Jonathan slinks away. he and Steve do not have a relationship right now.

and i really truly think that some sort of forced team-up that results in a heart to heart between the two of them would do astronomically well by their individual character arcs.

something about how Steve is still in love with Nancy, and still hoping it’ll work out between them, but talking more with Jonathan and learning just why Nancy likes him so much, and how her and Steve aren’t quite compatible anymore, and maybe never were, because maybe even the true Nancy that Jonathan loves so much isn’t the Nancy that Steve knew and still fawns over. like, it would allow Steve to move on or come to terms with the fact that he doesn’t need to be in love with someone or be in a relationship in order to be whole. he might want Nancy, but he doesn’t need her.

and we’ve still never really seen Jonathan’s trust issues addressed on screen (i will forever be sad that we didn’t see Jonathan letting Argyle into his life), and having Steve poke that bear, to talk to him and make Jonathan second guess his feelings about Steve. like, words cannot describe how fucking badly i want Steve to finish his apology from season 1. like, as far as i can remember, it didn’t seem like Steve went to Nancy to apologize to her first. he went to the Byers house to apologize to Jonathan. only, he got interrupted by the plot he was totally unaware of. and i can bet that Jonathan forgot about that, but maybe Steve hasn’t. and once they’re alone together, air thick with awkward tension, he thinks, fuck, this dude hates me, and i know exactly why.

like, just imagine having that final link closed for the both of them. Steve finally getting to apologize for the asshole things he did to Jonathan, owning up to what he did and not hiding behind something like, “well, i saved your life, so you have to like me now.” like really owning up to everything he said and did to Jonathan. and Jonathan just gawks at him because, oh. fuck. and Steve would just have to keep talking, because Jonathan is stubborn and a little caught off guard. so Steve is saying stuff like, “I’m happy for you and Nancy, you make a great pair. i’m sorry i broke your camera, that was really fucked up. i’m glad that Will ended up okay. like, really glad.”

and then imagine Jonathan muttering out an apology, after way too much silence has passed, and Steve just kinda blinks at him. and Jonathan says it again, “I’m sorry, too. for, you know, the pictures and... and for... you know...” for being a dickhead to you all these years when everyone else was telling me you were a good guy. he can’t say that, though. to Steve Harrington?? that would be too vulnerable for Jonathan. at least right now.

i’m just so !!!! about them and the potential for more interactions between them!! like their relationship is still so fragmented, they’re the only two who have yet to reconcile and gotten to know each other on screen. and i honestly feel like if we don’t get just one little awkward team-up between them where they’re forced to talk about their feelings, the two of them will stall out and not be able to move forward in their arcs. because if they really want to lean into this love triangle with Nancy, Jonathan can’t keep going to Argyle for advice and Steve can’t keep going to Robin, and Nancy can’t be caught in the middle with her split attraction between the two of them. the two guys have to talk to each other, to learn who each person is, so that Steve can move on and accept Nancy’s feelings for Jonathan, and Jonathan can stop being a defensive prick around this guy who’s otherwise a perfectly lovely friend to Nancy and everyone else.