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idiotcurls · 1 year ago

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For Auld Long Syne, My Dear

Chapter Two: Dinner

Chapter one is here. The whole thing on AO3 is here. After Steve finally arrived to the New Year’s Party at the Byers-Hopper house, the gang is sitting at the dinner table, bantering, eating and drinking. Nancy and Robin are forcing Hopper into a speech, which he hates but reluctantly accepts. Mike and Will have some sort of issue with eachother and are making it everyones problem. When emotions boil over, Steve goes into mum mode and Eddie finds himself as a bigger brother figure to Mike. Pairing: StevexEddie but they are idiots, WillxMike but they don’t know that yet, established NancyxRobin, platonic Stobin d’uh

Tags: slow burn, found family, post vecna world, dealing with trauma, coming of age, hurt/comfort, eddie is alive obviously The kitchen is filled with laughter and conversation. Plates are empty, bellies are full. Steve is sat next to Joyce and Jonathan, his thumb in a brand new band-aid, provided by Joyce. He had gotten his glasses from the car earlier too, to avoid more mishaps like this.

During dinner, Steve politely reminded Hopper that he wasn't becoming a teacher, but a guidance councilor again, when he asked how the studying was coming along.

That concept was foreign to Hop, but Steve had no problem explaining it all over, every time they met, even though he knew Hop would keep on calling him 'Teach'. The kids were bickering, Dustin screeched about something Max had said. Steve rolls his eyes but was in all good spirits. He was happy to see them laugh. Glances between him and Eddie were exchanged during the dinner.

Eddie basically inhaled Joyce's Lasagne. When she got up to put a third load of Lasagne on his dish he almost didn't dare to decline.

„You will make the boy explode, Joyce.“ Hopper intervened. „Oh well, they're still growing.“, she deflected. „That is a grown man.“, he pointed at Eddie with his fork. „I once arrested him.“ Eddie seemed to flinch. „That was a long time ago!“ Eddie added quickly, looking between Steve and Joyce. “That's probably like... statue-barred or something.”

Eddie being so damn lovely with Joyce and Hopper made Steve's heart feel warm. He acted like a polite son in law, trying really hard to impress some girl's parents. Steve swallowed hard.

“Well, I think by now you can say, he redeemed himself, don't you think?“ Joyce reached across the table to give Eddie's hand a quick, affectionate squeeze and he froze for a second there. He just nodded. “Th-thanks, yeah.”Jonathan sighed.

„I think we all suffered 3 times worth all of our respective sins.“ Nancy gave Jonathan a serious side eye.

„Since when do you believe in the concept of sin?“, she asked.Jonathan shrugged. „Argyle's mum is italian catholic. It comes up in conversation.“ Robin made a 'uh huh?' sound, while she looked into her glass of orange juice, but didn't dig deeper into the topic.

“Speaking of, where is Argyle?”Jonathan apparently just came back from a short holiday in California, where he stayed with Argyle, his mum and his abuelita. Steve noticed he was tan. For Jonathan at least. He looked happy and healthy.

“They would kill him, if he wasn't at home for the holidays.”, Jonathan explained. “But he doesn't seem to mind that, at all. He likes being molly coddled by them.” Jonathan looked into the middle distance. Steve couldn't help but wonder, what Argyle's family dynamics were like. And why they made Jonathan weary.

Speaking of sins, Steve looked over to Eddie. He looked down on his band-aided finger and back at him. He watched him smile while listening to conversations on the table. He didn't talk too much, almost seemed shy. Steve would have never thought, that a family dinner (of sorts) was the one thing that made Eddie shut up.

Steve's eyes got stuck on Eddies lips, on his dimples, that appeared when he smiled like that. There was Eddie's sharp jaw line, in contrast to his big brown eyes, that searched everybody's faces with curiosity. Sometimes he added insightful comments. This time about Catholicism. How can one person be so smart and so bad at school at the same time?

But the school system made Steve feel less than as well. He still sometimes thought he was dumb. And in Eddie's case, maybe the teachers just didn't like him, or had preconceived notions. He wore being an outcast well. But Steve sometimes wondered, if it came to him that easy. The snarky comments, the no fucks given attitude.

It must have been lonely behind that mask in school. But it was a mask and a loneliness Steve knew too. The mask just had a different colour. Steve promised to himself, that he would never treat any of his kids like this. Once he got through the course. Once he was a guidance councilor. It was either that, or becoming a hairdresser. He chuckled to himself, imagining doing Eddie's hair in a salon.

On the other side of the table, Nancy and Robin whispered something, they seemed to hatch out some sort of scheme, he saw it in their eyes. That always rang an alarm bell in Steve's head, so he tried to take his eyes off Eddie and watch out for those two agents of chaos.

For some reason Robin brought out a more playful, joyous side in Nancy. He loved their dynamics, even thought, truth be told, sometimes they got on his nerves. But this light-hearted Nancy, he hasn't seen that version of her since before Barb died. Not with him and not with Jonathan. So he was grateful.

Mike seemed to chew El's ears off about a topic she didn't seem to be interested in. Will and Dustin talked about that 60s movie they watched before. He had a feeling Robin also talked about it before. She wanted to watch it with him, to broaden his horizon.

He saw Will for the first time this evening at the dinner table. Will didn't seem to be in a very chatty mood, so Steve decided not to pester him with too many questions. Will was stabbing his food with the fork and provided short answers, when someone talked to him. Max was in a chatty mood today, but Steve learned not to disrupt her quiet phases aswell. It was a time where she intently listened to what was going on around her. He saw her quietly smile into herself sometimes, when one of the boys said some stupid shit.

Robin and Nancy's whispering turned into a giggle and then into a chant, far away from quiet. “Speech! Speech! Speech!” They looked at Hopper, starting to bang their fists on the table. Hop rolled his eyes and mouthed a stern 'No!' Nancy seemed to have sobered up a bit, still red cheeks, but she had this determination in her eyes, that Steve loved so much about her. El watched the girls chant and bang on the table for a second, before she chimed in, ignoring Mike's monologue. The more Hopper refused, which he did, the louder everyone got. Max was quietly smiling to herself. She put her hands on the table, like she tried to feel the vibration of the bangs on her hands. “Okay, okay, okay.“, Hop finally said. He got up, taking his glass of scotch into his right hand and put his left hand gently on Joyce's shoulder. Clapping and whoo-ing ensued. Well, from almost the whole table. Eddie didn't shout as loud as the other participants, but clapped. Apparently he still had a lot of respect, or maybe some sort of god's fear of Hop, which Steve found hilarious in a way. Mr. „Fuck the rules“ in awe of a cop. Steve smiled. He wondered why Hop arrested Eddie back then and how it all went down. He had a faint idea, since he sometimes bought weed off of him, back in high school. But that is a story for a different time. „Y'people are cruel, you know that, right? Y'know I'm bad with words.” He cleared his throat. “But uh, I will try my best.“ He seemed like he didn't quite know what to do with his hands or face. Joyce looked up to him, a sparkle in her eyes. She patted Hopper's hand on her shoulder and whispered „You can do this.“ Hopper was wearing a nice shirt and Steve was 200% sure it was a gift from one of the girls. It was very colourful, so he figured El gave it to him and it mattered so much to him, he wore it anyway, like a proud dad. A proud dad. Steve had a bitter sweet feeling in his stomach. But he couldn't imagine anyone other, that deserved a proud dad as much as El and Max. „I want to thank you all for coming here. It's uh... nice to have a full house. I guess we're still making this house a home...“ He looked around the table at all the eyes fixed on him and seemed to get honestly emotional. As if he felt...touched. „I never reckoned, that I would have a wife and four children to boss me 'round.“, he looked at the kids intently. His voice broke a little, Steve was sure about it, he heard it! “And...-“ „She's not your wife yet!“, Max interrupted with a smug smile on her lips. Hopper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. „Yeah, well. That is a fact. A fact that I was going to get into, if you would let me finish...” „They are getting married in spring!!“ El blurted out. „That is why Robin and Nancy wanted to hear a speech.“ El was proud. Mike next to her, seemed somewhat disconnected from the ruckus on the table. Will, who was sitting next to Mike, just watched the burning candle in front of him intently. Joyce laughed. „Don't steal his thunder! Come on now, go on, now.“ Her smile was wide and genuine. Something clicked in Steve's head. He looked at Joyce's hand and saw a new ring which she didn't wear the last time he visited. Joyce seemed to notice him connecting the dots and winked at him. He raised his eyebrows in disbelieve and shot Robin a look. She winked at Steve too, she knew already, but didn't say a word to him. Wow. Steve was surprised, Robin could shut up that long. Especially in front of him. Good for her. All the times they spoke on the phone and yet. He was almost proud.

If there hasn't been the conversation he had with Joyce when he came in, one could have thought everything was alright. Just a happy, big family celebrating new year's. Steve wished it could at least be true for the evening. He had a feeling they all shared that wish.

„Who's gonna be your best man? Can I be your best man?“ Dustin piped up. Mike punched his shoulder.

„You can't be a best man, you're way to young! You have to be like, 30 to be a best man.“ „Ow, dude, that is so disrespectful.“ Dustin shot back. „I'm allowed to ask!?“„As a matter of fact-“ Hopper raised his voice to interrupt the fighting, looking between Mike and Dustin. „We are getting married in spring. And uh I... we! We wanted to inform you, that you're all invited. We want you to be there.” Dustin looked at Hopper with big eyes, waiting for an answer. „I'm sorry kid, but Jonathan is going to be my best man.“, he said, not unkind. Dustin frowned. “Damn it.“ „See, I told you!“, Mike hissed at him under his breath across the table. “I am allowed to ask!!!”, Dustin hissed back.Jonathan who was just watching the back and forth between the kids, raised his hands in defense and shook his head. „First of all, I'm not 30? And you are very welcome to help me prepare stuff.” Dustin nodded enthusiastically, ignoring Mike's sour expression. It was the first wedding he was invited to, so Dustin thought, he had every right to be excited.He could practice wedding stuff, for when Suzie and him would get married, once they were old enough. Even though he didn't really know if Mormons married differently. He only knew weddings only from TV anyway, so this was a good place to start. El searched for Steve's attention. „I'm going to be a flower girl.“, she said unable to contain her excitement. „Me and Max both. That means we will go down the isle and throw flower petals on the ground.“, she explained. „Before Joyce walks down to get married.“ She was so proud. Her cheeks turned a rosy hue.Steve nodded. „That is very nice, I love that.“, he said sincerity in his voice. He looked over at Eddie. He had his hand on his chin, leaning on the table, just listening. If he wouldn't have known better, Steve thought, he was moved. But he couldn't read his face, since Eddie hid half of it and avoided eye-contact with Steve. Maybe he felt embarrassed about earlier. „So, please remember the date. 7th of may. I want us all to be together. It's important to celebrate, even during hard times.“, Joyce added. „You will get the invitations later. Oh, and thank you Robin for helping us make them!“ „Hear, hear!“ Robin raised her glass, putting her arm around Nancy. “I'm happy I could help.“, she smiled her beautiful, broad smile. Nancy looked up to her, studying her profile, flustered. Steve knew that look, but hasn't seen it in a while. Apparently Robin had helped them craft beautiful typography and added some flowers into their design.Hopper was so concentrated to provide a speech, he couldn't be annoyed by their blatant flirting. Steve knew, it wasn't because they were both young women. It was just because it was...them. „So now that that is out of the way...“, Hopper said after he kissed Joyce's head. „Let's have a nice evening together, but let's not get over board.“, Hopper continued, looking at Nancy. Steve couldn't help but laugh. Nancy shot him a look. Neither Will nor Mike had any emotional reaction to the situation, that was appropriate. Steve was wondering what was going on behind the scenes on this one. He had a little suspicion. “To Hopper and Joyce!” Nancy raised her cup. Everyone followed her. Even so Mike, who seemed to watch Will from the corner of his eyes the whole time. The only person who didn't raise his glass to the happy occasion, was Will. Steve was surprised. „This is not right.“, he said quietly still staring at the candle. The table grew quiet all of a sudden and everybody looked at Will. Raised hands sank back down. Mike rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.Maybe Will had been in a mood all day. Which was unusual, because that role was solely Mike's, commonly. „Honey, let's talk about this again later...“, Joyce said, reaching out to her son. „No, I don't want to talk. I'm so sick of everyone pretending everything is fine, when it's clearly not!“ Joyce couldn't speak for a second, she was taken aback. And hurt, Steve figured. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, afraid of saying something to make it worse. “Will....”, Jonathan started. „I can't take this talk of us all being together, when people are missing from 'together' and everyone is just, like, ignoring the truth.“ „Do you want to talk about this truth? Now?“ Hoppers voice was not unkind, but stern. „Enlighten us?“ Steve didn't think it was possible for the room to get even more silent but somehow it did. Dustin put his glass of sunny D down quietly, as if he was afraid to be noticed. “We're just playing pretend. Lucas and Erica are gone and Max-“ He stopped. His voice broke. The sound of his chair grinding back on the kitchen floor seemed to ripple through the room. „I have to go.“ He looked at the shocked faces around him and seemed to grow smaller. Will walked out of the kitchen. They could hear his steps ascending up the stairs into his room, followed by a door closing.Max lowered her head. Nobody dared to say anything. Joyce let her head sink into her hands, rubbing her forehead. “I'm sorry” she said softly to no one in particular. „He is going through a lot.“ “Puberty.”, Dustin nodded knowingly. Steve shot him a look and mouthed 'not now', shaking his head slightly. Dustin folded and shut up. Hopper laid his hand on Max's and whispered something to her. She nodded, but her expression seemed conflicted, still. Everyone missed Lucas and Erica the way Will did, but they were all faced with the same helplessness in the situation. Steve's stomach turned. It reminded him of the helplessness he felt, when Nancy was grieving Barbara. And he was a shit boyfriend back then. But also a teenager facing impossible situations. Not knowing where they are, made him lose sleep as well. He looked at Eddie. He seemed to want to add something to the conversation, but didn't dare to. He loved Lucas and had grown more fond of Erica ever since she called him a long haired freak. Everyone looked hurt, staring down at the table. Except for Mike. Mike seemed furious, like he could barely swallow his rage. Not annoyed, like he usually was. A more common sight, but fire burning furiously. Steve had a feeling, Max blamed herself partly for them leaving. Even though none of them had confirmation on how the situation took place and it surely wasn't Max's fault. He knew Max was smart. Smart beyond her years. But knowing something doesn't immediately mean, you know how to deal with your emotions. He knew that for sure.Jonathan cleared is throat and put down his bottle of beer. „I'm going to talk to him.“, he uttered under his breath and got up to follow his little brother upstairs. Mike watched Jonathan go after Will and something in him was about to snap. He shook his head. You could see the white on his knuckles, he was balling his fists so hard on the table. El looked at his fist and back up to him. But before she could say anything, Mike finally snapped. „This is so stupid.“, he spit out. „He should be happy he has all of this!“, he waved across the room. “Mike! Stop it!”, Nancy snapped at him. Mike shot his sister an angry look across the table, before the second time a chair grinned the kitchen floor. “Don't act like you know whats going on at home!” He left the room, put on his shoes and slammed the front door behind him, without grabbing a coat on the way out. El didn't follow him. She looked the other way and grabbed Max's hand. Max seemed relieved. Everyone else was looking at the table, perplexed on how fast a general mood can switch.Nancy shook her head and furrowed her brows. “Just ...let him calm down.”, she said, defeated and waved her hand. Robin put an arm around her. Just being there, a silent support. “They are always angry, lately.”, Max said quietly. El nodded, knowingly. “They are.”, she said with a lowered tone. “Something is changing.“, she added. Steve couldn't make out if Hopper was extremely angry or extremely sad. He did work a lot on his anger lately, he knew that from Joyce. So maybe it was somehow both.

„Sometimes people are angry when things change.“, Joyce offered them softly. The candles were flickering on the table and the TV had since started broadcasting the New Year's eve celebrations on times square. 1988. Almost a new era. “Let's just clean up a bit. We'll give you guys some time.” Robin said towards Joyce and Hopper, as she got up. Nancy seemed to snap out of a trance and got up too. Steve knew, Hop wanted the best for his new family. Steve respected that. But it also must be a lot of work and “new territory” so to say. “I'll go out to check on the fire.”, Hopper said, getting off the table.Joyce got up too, to frantically put plates together. “Come on let's all help. Dustin! Grab a tea towel. I wash, you dry.”, Steve announced. Dustin groaned. “Do I have to?” “Yes. You do.” Steve said with a stern voice and gestured towards him. In reality Dustin was probably relieved. He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands, or the Situation as a whole, if we were perfectly honest. “Go be with Hopper. We got this”, Nancy said softly, touching Joyce's arm. She sighed and laughed thinly. “Thank you. I'm sorry about this.” “Don't be.” Nancy was serious. Steve saw Joyce grab a packet of cigarettes out of one of the kitchen drawers, before she grabbed a coat and left into the night to talk to Jim. El pushed Max's wheelchair out of the kitchen, towards her room. El nodded to Nancy before they left. Nancy nodded back and touched El's shoulder affectionately before they left. It wasn't close to midnight yet, but still a good time to have a little festive fight, Steve figured. Nancy and Robin were clearing off the table, bringing used plates and cutlery to Steve and Dustin. Eddie had gotten up from the table and stood in the room awkwardly, not knowing what his role in this was exactly. He looked towards Steve, helplessly. Crisis-mode Steve was pretty good at diffusing situations and just reacting to problems. So he did. Steve turned on the water and plugged the drain, before looking over his shoulder at Eddie, nodding towards the door, raising his eyebrows. He seemed to have forgotten that Eddie doesn't really have a code to follow in “family situations” like that.“I think I, uh... I want to go smoke a cigarette?”, Eddie asked

“Yes. Yes you want to do that.” Steve answered and nodded towards the door again. Someone should check on Mike. “Right. Got it.” Eddie snapped his fingers and walked out the kitchen towards the front door, grabbing the ear warmers and his coat, following to where ever Mike Wheeler turned to hide himself. Steve sighed, already feeling bad for being bossy. But he knew Mike looked up to Eddie. Mike grew his hair out, despite his father threatening, that he would somehow end up in prison with a haircut like that or worse, unemployed. The kid was a sucker for Eddie. Even today, he wore his Hellfire shirt, hanging on every word Eddie uttered, all evening. When he wasn't sulky or angry. If he didn't know it any better, he thought Mike had a crush on Eddie. Nancy for one, didn't quite get the infatuation her brother had, but decided, there were worse role models to pick. At least Eddie was someone who tried to make high school a tolerable place for kids like them. He basically ran around high school adopting kids. Which was cute. She remembered wanting to look out for Jonathan, when they were in school. And he had proven himself to Nancy Wheeler since. She put a stack of used plates next to Steve and sighed, watching him scrub away on the dirty plates, brows furrowed. He loved to stress-clean. He used to stress-clean a lot, when they were dating. Back then, she found it endearing. Now it's just comedy relieve. Also, Robin was a slob and she already got used to that. But it was Steve's way of helping and dealing with complicated situations. “You know he had a hard time, since Robin and me got together.”, Nancy's big dark eyes seemed still seemed a bit clouded. Steve listened to her, keeping his eyes on the warm water and bubbles. “He is so fucking angry all the time, we don't know what to do.”, she said, sighing again. “I don't know what to do and he is not talking about it, like, at all.” Dustin shook his head and scoffed. “We have been talking, aaall the time! But nobody can fucking tell me what's wrong.” Dustin sounded defeated drying another plate, Steve put into his hands. „Maybe, they just need a little bit more time. To figure things out.“ Robin's voice was quiet, and soft like velvet, her eyes rested on Steve. Then she leaned over to Dustin and gave him a little nudge. “Don't worry too much about it, Dusty-Bun.” Dusty-Bun groaned loudly.“Yes! But we know Will is gay. We don't care! The party does not care!”, Dustin was obviously annoyed by the whole Situation. “Eddie had this one gay character in DnD and we all decided we loved her!” he almost screamed. “It is just FINE. So what else could it possibly be?” Robin decided to ignore him. She remembered Sapphire the Sapphic all to well. When Eddie told her about Sapphire, she knew, that motherfucker wasn't totally straight. How else would he know the word sapphic and why else would he tell that to her. They had a silent agreement since. But Robin was happy he seemed to try to teach the kids something.Robin had seen Eddie with girls around Hawkins High. But she had a suspicion. The same suspicion she held with Steve. Not all that easy to read, but the moment Eddie appeared in their lives, she could smell something was off with Steve too. Since they knew each other, she had never seen Steve look at a girl the way he looked at Eddie. Steve never looked at her that way, when he thought he was in love with her too. “Is he angry about you and Robin?”, Steve asked Nancy and gave Dustin yet another wet plate to shush him, lovingly. “He seemed to take it fine. When we told him. Together. ” Nancy said. “But then, all of a sudden he decided to be a huge dick. To everyone.” “More than before?” Steve couldn't hide his undertone. Which was fine in that situation, he figured.“Uh, Yes. A lot more.”, Dustin said, swinging his towel. “I would have told you, if you'd pick up your phone more often. Instead of, uh, I don't know, going on hot dates with lots of girls or whatever.” Robin poured herself a cup of mulled wine from the stove and laughed out loud, leaning on the counter.“How are those hot dates going, Harrington?” Steve dropped a plate back into the foamy water, to look at her, eyebrows raised. “Okay, ouch. I don't like either of you two very much, right now. I'm actually studying and working. Trying to become my own man, you know?” Steve shrugged. “I'm trying to become a better man.” He nodded to himself. He wasn't quite sure if he believed it, or what it meant, exactly. His glasses fogged up from the hot water, so he took them off and placed them on his head. “Jeez, that shouldn't distract you from being a good older male role model for me, Steve.” Dustin threw the tea towel over his shoulder, like an old lady, perfectly mimicing the way Steve did it. Steve didn't say anything to that. He just looked at Dustin and shook his head.„What do you think about it, Buckley? I mean, about Mike and Will.”, Steve finally asked, going on to investigate his suspicion. She sighed deeply, taking a sip of the hot wine, contemplating.„I think they are teenagers. We weren't any better, were we? Figuring stuff out. Fighting, being mad. There IS a lot of change happening right now. We're still trying to cope too. And their brains aren't really fully developed yet. You should know that, Mr. Councilor? The prefrontal cortex and everything? Do you have yours?”Steve scoffed and nodded. “Yeah, haven't taken that class yet. Next semester. Too busy being a rolemodle.”, he looked at Dustin theatrically, who sighed.The warm water in the sink felt good on his hands. In the beginning he tried not to get his band-aid wet, but aborted the mission half way through. Scrubbing plates gave him something productive to do. From the kitchen window, he saw Joyce and Hopper standing by the fire. Hop was shaking his head while Joyce was talking and blowing blue smoke into the cold winter air. „What are we figuring out though?“ Dustin put a salad bowl on top of the pile of clean plates. „Stuff. Teenager Stuff.“, Steve said. „I want to be included. I can't trust you to figure the case out by yourself. You need me. You know, to connect the dots.“ “I don't know man. I am still not sleeping well either. At least sometimes. So I guess that?” Dustin nodded. He seemed to understand that. “I talk to Suzie a lot when I can't sleep.”, his voice went a little bit more quiet. “Some teenagers have to figure stuff out, other teenagers don't have to.” Steve pondered, thinking of Mike and Will. „Also, you can't put a half dry bowl to the dry dishes! Jesus!“ Steve took the tea towel from Dustin's shoulder and put it on his own. Robin smiled kindly. “That is actually true. You know you can still figure things out even though you're not a teenager anymore, right Steve?” Steve and Robin locked eyes. Nancy looked between them, confused about the tension in the room. Outside the house, Eddie stomped through the crisp snow, silently hating himself for jumping on whatever Steve tells him to. He could imagine a thousand things that were better than running after an angry teenager on a night he looked forward to for weeks. Could he say no to Steve though? Not exactly. Would he do anything for that rag-tag family type situation going on in there? Yeah, probably. He figured it was safe to feel that way. They did that for each other all the time, he knew. Eddie did actually know a thing or two about being a teenager and being an angry one, so.

Steve knew that. That's why he sent him out to talk to Mike, he figured. It made him feel a little proud. Steve knew the kids longer than he had. So Eddie loved, that Steve trusted him with looking after one of the difficult ones.

They both cared about the little shrimps. He felt included. It warmed Eddie's heart, something to examine later, after the mission.And Eddie also knew very well, that he could have used someone in situations like that. Needed someone to understand him. Dads and uncles sometimes couldn't do that in a way that actually helped.

Even though, he regarded himself lucky, to even have an uncle, to go after him when he stormed out into the dark of night. Which he did frequently, back in the day. Why he never got eaten by a Demogorgon or something like that, in hindsight, he couldn't explain. The fool's luck.

„Shit.“ He rubbed his hands together, looking around to find any sign of Mike. He looked up to the sky. The moon was a very thin sickle. Only sparse clouds in the sky. Which made sense. It's to cold for much clouds if it's too cold for snow. And there wasn't any snow in a while. It made sense, because of the lack of moisture. He really liked the colour of the sky though.

The footsteps in the snow he followed, led him behind his own Van. Mike was crouched down, leaning on a dirty front tire. He angrily wiped away a tear or two in an hectic movement, when he heard Eddie's footsteps approach. Little Idiot, Eddie thought. He looked younger.

„Hey there. It's a bit cold to hang around out here.“, Eddie said.

„What else is new.“ Mike's tone was cold. He clearly didn't want any company. Yet, there Eddie was. Feeling like he was in a different dimensions, where the roles were reversed and he was the one to strike up a meaningful conversation. No biggie, though. The van's door was cold on Eddies back, as he leaned against it, while crouching down next to Mike. He reached into the pocket of his too big jacket and produced a packet of cigarettes and a zippo lighter, with an intricate design on it. There was only a zzsk, zzsk noise abd a small orange flame from the lighter, as he lit his cigarette.

He casually blew the smoke into the cold December air, like he didn't just got sent out into the cold to retrieve a teenager. He offered the package over to Mike, who raised his hand to take one out, but Eddie pulled back in a quick motion. “Gotcha. I know you smoked before. Don't start it.” Mike shook his head, defeated. He knew he earned that. “I had to throw up after.”, he confessed quietly. Eddie nodded. “I thought that much.“, he said ashing into the snow.When he saw Mike the first time, he got bullied by some jock from Mike's English class. The perfect victim for becoming a new member of Hellfire. But that was why Eddie started Hellfire for. A refuge for nerds, freaks and outcasts. And they flocked to him.Now the situation was a different one. The “shared trauma” as Robin and Steve called it, was a bit more than some assholes in a cafeteria calling you a name. It was new for him, he barely survived. Thinking that those kids have done this since they were so small, blew his mind. Made him feel small in comparison.Since then a lot changed, times changed and the kids grew up a lot. But hell, so did he.

If somebody would have traveled back in time and told him, that he would spend New Year's with Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler and a Cop in 3 years time, he would have spat into the time traveler's face, despite being impressed by, you know, the time traveling.Once you graduate and leave the small little bubble of high school, get thrown into real life, a lot of important things seemed silly. It almost made Eddie feel nostalgic.

Like he yearned for easier times with less at stake. Jocks against Nerds. Nothing more. Black and White. Not all of this greyish hues that bloomed in front of him, like boring but insightful flowers of early adulthood.He wondered if the little spark he had with Chrissy could have bloomed into a friendship too after high school, if... if things happened differently.

Their friendship would have have had pink and yellow petals, he thought. Eddie imagined her at college. He imagined her having fun with her friends and grow up to become a woman. He saw her smiling. She would have been so amazing. It stung.But despite all of it, Mike was still partly in this bubble, with his stupid views on the stupid world and his big anxieties, that were very real. The kids were pushing 18, learning and growing and being dumb.

„So... what was that all about?“ Eddie tried to swallow his teasing tone. „What do you mean?“, Mike spat, looking at the cigarettes tip glistening in Eddie's hand.

„Come on.“ Eddie leaned into Mike's space. „You're going to tell me, Baby-Byers storming off and then you storming off are not in perfect correlation?“ „I know you think of me as this wise old man, but I'm actually not too unfamiliar with the teenage drama.“ Mike shook his head and rolled his eyes. "It's not that." Mike said. “It's not drama... It's just... I'm just...Will got all of this attention from being 'out' and everyone is walking on eggshells around him. He gets to start over at a new place and Joyce and Hopper are madly in love with each other, it's gross.“, it bubbled out of him. Ding, Ding, Ding. Jackpot, Eddie thought, but let the kid continue.„He is living with El and Max and Jonathan is there a lot. Everyone loves him, despite... you know? But he runs around being depressed and angry and anxious. What does he have to be angry about all the time?!“ Mike was angry, too.

Eddie took the last drag off the cigarette and flipped it into the snow. They both watched the little light go out. Eddie decided to not follow up the 'despite', not yet. He also swallowed the 'what are you so angry about?' question. That was for another time.

„Are you jealous?.“, Eddie said, breathing out smoke. Mike was hesitant, breathing out through his nose, like a child that got caught. He seemed to gather his thoughts together, so Eddie let him.

„I'm alone a lot. Everyone is here. Lucas is gone. I barely get to see them.“ Mike's voices cracked.

„What about Dustin?“ „He is in a total nerd mode. Only cares about finishing school. And talking to Suzie.“ He scoffed. "He wants to marry her?" Eddie nodded. "That's young." He knew about that. Not feeling included, being alone. Except Mike gets to do it from a nice home with a family around him. He did not know a lot about his parents, despite the fact, that they don't seem to love eachother .„And El and you...“, Eddie started. „We're taking a break!“, the answer shot out of him. „It's just a matter of time. We'll be together again soon.“ 'We will be happy again', Mike wanted to say but didn't. Eddie had a feeling that this wasn't exactly true on what he had observed that evening. But the boy needed something to hang on to, so he wouldn't drown. Eddie wasn't going to be the one to take the straw away from him.

The first heart break was always the worst one. But he'll get over it, Eddie knew that too. „I can't say anything about you and El. But you guys all love each other. And you won't live in your parent's place forever. You can all venture out into the world together one day.“, Eddie mused, gesturing towards the sky.„I know, but what if...“ Mike's voice gave out completely. „What if they forget me? Just move on?“ He turned to look at Eddie with genuine sadness and fear in his eyes. A tear on the brink of rolling over his pale cheek. Oh god. Genuine emotions made Eddie feel weird. Who could blame him, when he had to swallow all of his own grievances and hurt for so long, just to survive. Those kids were emotionally so much more in tune with themselves than he was at their age. He swallowed. Don't mess this up, Munson. „Well...I for one, haven't been a part of what ever this is for a long time.“ He nodded towards the house. „But I can assure you, those people in there love you as much as you love them, man.“ Eddie chuckled. „I'm just a sort of bystander and I have felt sick all evening from all of this love and understanding going on in there.“ Mike laughed a little. „It's pretty bad.“, he admitted.„Yeah it is. And I think nobody would like, shoot you if you talked to them about it. You could even say, that you uh, miss them or something.“ Mike nodded. He knew Eddie was right. There was a small pause. Far away, there was the noise of fireworks going off, prematurely. And the cracking of the fire in the backyard. „You're not a bystander, Eddie...“, Mike said after that long pause, looking at his shoes. The tables have turned, Eddie thought. But that was the way those kids worked.„Sshh. I wasn't the one storming out of a family event just now.”, Eddie deflected. “Try to swallow your pride. You think you can do that?“ Mike nodded, bated. “And maybe you can work up some understanding for Will? Doing what he is doing, isn't that easy either.“, Eddie said with a stern voice. “And doing what you're doing is hard aswell. Be soft.” Mike nodded. He didn't quite know what Eddie meant, but he liked to feel acknowledged. He wondered what 'being soft' meant. „Okay. Good. So let's get up and go back inside. Your sister is going to skin me alive if you get sick because of me. “Mike seemed to understand those worries and reluctantly got up to walk back inside the house. For a second Eddie stopped in front of Steve's Beemer, looked at the leather seats and his bags neatly put together in the back.

When he raised his head, he took in the sight of a house filled with light and love and smelled the burnt wood from the backyard. There was some sort of commotion coming from the kitchen, a crash, like broken glass and something that could be a cat dying or Dustin. Eddie and Mike shared an amused look, before they entered the patio, to walk back inside. Eddie put one Hand on Mike's back, ushering him inside. He looked over his shoulder to check the woods, before he closed the door behind them. Old habits die hard. Maybe there was a slight chance for a nice evening, after all. People were still scattered around the house. When Eddie walked in, he immediately loved the warmth. He seemed to melt into it. Steve and Dustin were still cleaning and arguing. Apparently Dustin had dropped a plate and Steve was ushering him around to get out of the way, for Steve to sweep up the shards. In case any one of them went downstairs to get a cheeky sandwich, barefoot in the middle of the night, so nobody would get hurt. Seeing Steve, wearing his glasses on his head, a tea towel over his shoulder, bossing around a kid, Eddie felt a strange sense of longing for domesticity. Not that he ever had the nuclear family, mum-dad-kid holy trinity of the American dream at his disposal, but he liked evenings in, when him and Wayne would cook a proper meal together and watch a sitcom on TV. When he was younger, Wayne let him stay up longer and watch things that, in hindsight were not appropriate for 12 year old kids, but it was what it was. And Eddie was thankful for every minute of it. Bonding time. After they made their way back into the kitchen, Eddie noticed, Dustin also put his tea towel on his shoulder, the way Steve did. It was so absurdly cute how much Dustin looked up to Steve. One time Eddie asked him, if he'd share the secret of Steve's perfect hair, if he knew it. As a joke. Dustin got this really serious expression and told him, “I am not at liberty to discuss that with you, or anyone as a matter of fact.” and shut down the conversation. It took quite a lot out of Eddie not to laugh out loud. But that meant, he did share his sacred hair regimen with Dustin. And Dustin guarded it like it was the declaration of independence. In that moment, Eddie had a vision of him and Steve in an imaginary shared flat, where Steve was at the stove, in the middle of making dinner, on a random Tuesday night and Eddie hugged him from behind, to kiss his neck and smell his hair. He imagined them making out between chopped vegetables and bubbling sauce. Greetings from the kitchen, or whatever rich people called it. Maybe it started with something benign like Steve letting Eddie taste test his homemade tomato sauce, excuse him, Sugo, the one with the fresh basilico and authentic grana padano. But it ended with him whispering into Steve's ear, how much he loved him and his Sugo. The three course menu for Eddie was Steve, Steve, Steve. He immediately felt bad after imagining that. He had fever dreams like this all the time. He felt double bad, because Steve was obviously straight and it made his gut turn, that he imagined stuff like this about a friend. He felt like a stupid horny teenager, when there was more pressing matters to attend to.Eddie's eyes were glazed over, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Mike, whom Eddie forgot about for a second there, didn't seem to want to disrupt whatever was happening with Eddie. He cleared his throat semi-politely and announced he was going to sit with Nancy and Robin to watch the festivities as they unfolded on TV for a bit. Nancy and Robin were graceful and didn't make a big deal of the disgruntled teenager returning back to the mothership. Bless them. Eddie's and Steve's glance met, when Steve put away the last pieces of broken china. Eddie immediately looked away, a pink shimmer on his cheeks. Steve sighed and washed his hands. “Can you go sit with Mike?”, he said towards Dustin. “I want to talk to Eddie.” “There's a lot of talking going on today, that's for sure.”, Dustin grumbled passive aggressively, walking out of the kitchen. Steve felt a bit bad about it, but he was going to make up for it later on, he figured.

When Eddie sat down at the table, he had a beautiful smile on his face, that also seemed sad or embarrassed, Steve could not tell. The cold from outside must have turned his cheeks a rosy hue. There were some candles still burning, other ones were already out.Steve swung the tea towel over his shoulder yet again and put some little bowles of chips and other snacks on the table. “So...What's up?” Eddie shook his head. “Angsty teenager stuff.” Steve laughed. Eddie patted on the empty chair beside him. Steve followed, pulling up the chair, using it backwards, leaning his arms on the back rest. “Thanks for talking to him.” He nodded towards the living room, where Mike awkwardly sat on the rest of the couch, while Dustin joined them, immediately diving into the popcorn. “Yeah, no problem. He's just, you know, Mike.”

Steve snorted. “Yeah, he is.” “And I think. They're still having a hard time.”, Eddie continued. Steve sighed and leaned his chin on his forearms. “They miss them. A lot. Hell, even I miss that snarky little Erica voice.”, Eddie continued. “Who could blame them?”, Steve said more to himself.

“I think Mike feels lonely in Hawkins.”, Eddie said quietly, tilting his head towards the living room. Steve didn't say anything for a bit. The kitchen felt weirdly quiet after all that noise before. “Do you feel lonely in Hawkins?” Eddie scoffed. “Got lots to do. M'shifts at the mechanic. People don't have money to buy new tractors and cars. I'm in the back, so nobody gets to me.” He sighed. “Uncle Wayne is giving me a hard fucking time about that government housing. Constantly wants me to help him fix shit, or change shit. He hates it there.” “Move.”, Steve said, simply. Eddies eyebrows furrowed. “What?” “Move away. Doesn't Wayne have friends from the army somewhere?” Eddie was surprised, that Steve remembered that. “Yeah, but they live somewhere secluded, in east Jesus nowhere.”Some of the vets were not happy how they were treated after serving. And they did not get the assistance they needed to get back into civilian life. They lived somewhat self organized, somewhere in the desert. Wayne sometimes got letters from them, Eddie remembered Wayne chuckling to himself, while reading. And the only time he saw him writing was when he had to do tax returns or write back to his friends.

“It's not that easy, Steve... I can't just leave Uncle Wayne and the money...” “But we did get a good amount. You could start off somewhere new.” Steve offered.Eddies eyes got darker. He felt a little burning pit in his belly. “I don't have the same opportunities you do.” What he wanted to say was, I only have Uncle Wayne left. Where was he supposed to go? With whom?“I'm just saying-” Eddie sighed loudly, interrupted Steve with it. “I don't really think, you understand my situation here, Harrington.”Steve sat up in his chair. The 'Harrington' stung. Eddie hasn't called him that since before. It was a reminder of their past roles and Steve's status from before. Even if before didn't exist anymore and Steve was sure they let that part of the past behind them. Because it wasn't relevant anymore, not to him, at least. El and Max entered the kitchen again, Max's hands full of fire crackers and small fire works. Not the big ones, because no one liked loud noises at this point. “Do you guys want to go out and cause some chaos?”Steve looked at Eddie and raised his eyebrows. Eddie nodded. “Sure, why not. Get dressed.”, Steve said to the girls. Eddie watched Steve get up to get coats and shoes ready for outside. A tiny voice in him shouted derogatory terms. He didn't quiet know why he was so defensive right then. Defensive and a little bit mean. But he got up to follow them, anyway, cursing under his breath.

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idiotcurls · 1 year ago

Text

Auld Long Syne, My dear

Chapter One: Arrival I also put it in AO3 if you want to read it here

Steve is the last one to arrive at the Byer-Hopper’s New Years Party. Spirits are up, but two people are missing from the festivities. While everyone is dealing with their own aftermath of the Post-Vecna world, the group is trying to move on together, in their own ways. On the dinner table good news are shared but not everyone is thrilled.

Pairing: StevexEddie but they are idiots, WillxMike but they don’t know that yet, established NancyxRobin Tags: slow burn, found family, post vecna wordl, dealing with trauma, coming of age, hurt/comfort, eddie is alive obviously

I guess I just wanted to explore what the characters would be like, after the end of everything (post s4) So i decided on a classic trope, put them all together in one house and see what happens. Enjoy. Also I’m european, so have °C kilometers and me having no idea what americans like to do for new years, except the stuff I see on TV, so. On Christmas Eve, the moon was hiding behind a thick layer of clouds, it didn't snow on the 25th but a couple of days before. There was a good enough layer of snow on the ground, that crunched, when you stepped on it. Apparently, if the temperature sinks below -2°, it just stops snowing because it's too cold temperatures.

That didn't make sense in Steve's book, but he went with it, because what else could he do, argue with physics or whatever made that happen?

He was sure he could ask Dustin, to explain it to him, but that cocky little shit would make it into a big thing. 'You're not a child, Steve. Do you have to be told everything, Steve?'

He got out of the driver's seat and closed the door of his Beemer. Above him, the moon was just a thin sickle, almost not visible. Too cold for clouds, when it's too cold for snow.

Steve had been driving for 5 hours at least, turning the car radio on and off, feeling impatient for his arrival. He thought his mind played small tricks on him. When he left Hawkins, the sun was still shining, it got dark so incredibly fast. He didn't like that. He enjoyed the summer more. He looked into the mirror this morning and felt pale.

He also had to stop a couple of times, because sometimes, he didn't trust himself. It felt like he went on auto pilot and just arrived at another junction without driving there. He didn't want to make any mistakes while driving, so he regularly took regular breaks. The last couple of kilometers were easy though, since Steve visited before. And Joyce called him every day for a week beforehand, to remind him of the route and that he had to bring nothing. She just wanted him to be on time for dinner.

He arrived almost punctual. He was on the phone with Joyce the night before too. She told him the way to the farm another 5 times, how after that one junction he had to turn left, after the gas station by that big farm not right.

“I told Eddie and Jonathan 5 times too, because they have the kids.”, she said. Steve chuckled.

“Don't laugh!”, she said.

“Don't worry. I'll be there and won't get lost.”, Steve tried to calm her.

“I would much rather have you come with the kids!”, Joyce said. “Like always.”

This sentiment made Steve feel soft inside. And warm.

Beyond the treeline behind him, the dark blue of the night swallowed the measly rest of daylight, making a mess of shades of cold blue hues with the almost black shapes of different trees before it.

He shivered a bit, longing for the warm embrace of a Joyce Byers household.

Driving towards the house had a homely feeling. He smiled when he made out the shape of the old farm house on the horizon.

Steve's breath made little clouds, he pulled his scarf tighter around his neck and closed the zip of his winter jacket, before getting the cake and wine he brought for the special occasion out of the back. He also took off his glasses and put them on the dashboard. He wasn’t vain though.

In front of the farm house several cars were parked already. He recognized Hopper's Truck, Eddie's Van and thought the third one could be Jonathan’s new car. Apparently he finally let the old Ford Galaxy rest in peace. His new car wasn't state of the art. It was practical. It made sense. Like Jonathan always did. He was never a guy who tried to impress others.

He wondered who arrived with whom. A five hour drive with Mike and Dustin together seemed like hell on earth around this time, they seemed to argue a lot more these days, from what Steve noticed.

He did the math of seats in his head, but knew that two kids were missing from the celebrations anyway.

After half of Hawkins was decimated, people left and didn't look back. Even if they just knew varying amounts of the truth, who could blame them. There was nothing really left of the town. Among the people who left without looking back were the Sinclair family.

The Sinclair's took the hush money, signed contracts and moved away. With their kids being in the middle of whatever was going on, they felt an intense amount of guilt. For not noticing, for letting the kids go through the horrors alone. Maybe they felt betrayed, because the other grown ups left them in the dark. In hind-sight it was all so clear.

The Party has been told, the Sinclair family does not wish to disclose their new location to anyone.

“This can't be true! Lucas and Erica would never do this to us!”, Mike kept on shouting. But the realization sank in slowly. For all of them.

It was a time when ache, pain and healing and defending and then healing again. Steve's heart sank into his stomach, thinking about Lucas and Erica.

The Party didn't give up on finding them immediately. Eventually, they thought, they got the right address from Murray, but all letters came back unopened. Phone calls went into nowhere.

Mike's rage turned into quiet fury. And Dustin's eagerness to find them into bland disappointment. He wasn’t sure about Max and El. They were more quiet about their emotions, but you could tell, they suffered.

Laughter was heard coming from inside and warm light was shining out of the windows invitingly. He let the picture in front of him form a memory in his mind. The smell of pine and snow working as an aid, to keep it vivid for the years to come, to help out in the bad times.

The front door opened with a creak and a small shadow emerged in it's frame.

“Guys, I was right! It's Steve!”, Dustin screamed over his shoulder.

Steve smiled and walked towards them, up the snowy stairs with the cracked paint, over the front porch, that inhabited a big Hollywood swing and several wooden chairs.They had painted the wooden ramp Hopper and Will built for Max's wheelchair. A nice shade of green. Calming.

Dustin stepped onto the porch to greet Steve.

“You have to come upstairs with us, we just cranked open a bottle of coke. Also we watched a movie from the 60s that is sort of weird. Some guy wearing lingerie and they were all singing...” Words bubbled out of him. Steve looked at Dustin's feet, only to find they were just covered by socks.

“Are you insane? Put some shoes on when you step outside, its December!” Steve exclaimed, patting his back affectionately, before he shoved him back inside with one hand.

He could still remember when Dustin's smile was one without teeth, not only did his teeth grow in since they first met, but it seemed to Steve, Dustin grew a lot taller the last couple of months.

El danced downstairs to greet him, a reluctant Mike behind her. She leaned in to hug Steve. “You made it!”, she said quietly.

El let her hair grow out again the last couple of months. It was shoulder length now. She also wore a cute dress for the occasion, she seemed proud about. She liked cute things now, she told Steve once.

“We have a Christmas tree in the living room.”, El said, after she broke the hug. “Hopper got it from the forest with an ax, it's illegal to just get one out of the forest for free.”, she added in a matter of fact fashion.

“Uh, is that so...?”, Steve offered confused, but smiled at her sincerity.

“Dude, Hop told you not to tell anyone.”, Mike scolded her after he awkwardly hugged Steve as well. “He's going to make it my fault!” Hopper sure was going to do exactly that.

The kid seemed to be in a mood already. Mike sighed and went back upstairs, tagging El along, who just smiled and waved to Steve.

“Dustin!”, Mike barked halfway upstairs. Dustin rolled his eyes.

“Talk to you later!”, he said and followed them upstairs. A door closed.

“Hey! Dinners ready soon, don't fill up on other stuff!”, Joyce shouted, sprinting towards the stairs, but the door was already shut and music was playing loudly.

She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, sighing.

Steve just gave her a 'kids, huh?' look.

“Its so nice you are finally here! Let me take that off you, just put your coat on the hangers.”, ignoring the kids. Steve handed over wine and cake to take off his jacket.”How was the drive?”

“Drive was shit, like always. Had to stop a couple of times.”

Joyce nodded knowingly. “Better safe than sorry.”

Steve was the last one to arrive at the Byers-Hopper residency, an old farmhouse on the outskirts of another small town, but this one was closer to St. Louise, than Indianapolis. He wasn't able to arrive early, like the rest of the gang between his college courses and cleaning out the old house in Hawkins, there wasn't much time left.

The house smelled like mulled wine, wood smoke and cigarettes- apparently Joyce did not quit smoking, like she promised herself last year. And the year before that, to be exact.

Steve tried to put his jacket on the crowded coat hangers in the hall, but failed, because of the sheer amount of jackets, hats and scarfs already occupying space. Some had fallen to the ground on top of shoes, so he just tried to put his stuff onto them in a sort of neat fashion.

In any other situation he would have minded the mess, but this time he decided to just smile at it. A sign of a house full of life.

Meanwhile Joyce looked at the cake's packaging, she took out of Steve's hands before. It was well made and beautiful with a little handle on top, so you could carry it comfortably. It was very european.

Steve was used to having Panettone around Christmas, so he figured it made a lot of sense to bring it, for everyone to try and enjoy.

“Oh wow, is this fancy stuff?”, she said trying to read the label, but noticed, it wasn't english at all.

“It's uh... italian cake, or something. And some red wine, from my parents place. I think it's good?”

Joyce looked at the wines label and raised her eyebrows, looking back at Steve.

“I'm sure it is... Come inside, let’s get you settled in.” Steve took off his shoes and followed Joyce's stern, loving voice obediently into the kitchen.

The kitchen was cozy and warm. Two big tables pushed together with a lot of seats and a spacious bench to host them all. Warm light. A couple of bags with clothes and toiletries from guests, left near the door, that haven't been put away yet. Steve felt his toes tickling, the warmth spreading life back into his whole body. On the stove two big pots were lightly bubbling, the source of the amazing smell.

Joyce put Steve's gifts on the counter where several plates of cookies, Salad bowls, bread, sausages and some other bottles already resided. Steve's eyes locked on a bottle of scotch, which he immediately clocked as Hoppers. He had marked the level in the bottle, in case curious kids would try and have some. He knew that move far too well. He also spotted pre-made lasagna, an amount you could feed an army with.

“We have punch and mulled wine. The punch with the apples is for the kids, the mulled wine for us.” She leaned in closer. ��Make sure the kids don't get any more of the wine, they already got a cup.” She took her own steaming mug from the counter and shook her had looking at Steve.

„They think I don't know.”, she whispered and chuckled.

Steve imagined, how they stole the cup, brought it upstairs and all tried a bit, making disgusted faces. The only one he thought, would have liked the taste was Mike, so he made a mental note to keep an eye on that one. But he always did, anyway.

“Thanks for having me. And thanks, for doing... this.”, he gestured towards the kitchen.

His neck was tight from the long car ride, he moved his head around, massaging his shoulder. Joyce poured some mulled wine in a pink cup for him.

“Don't thank me. It was Jim's idea to host this.”, she said, putting the cup into Steve's hands. “You're not a kid anymore. You're allowed the grown up drink now. And you don't have to drive obviously.”, she added, nodding towards upstairs, to accentuate the fact, that there would always be a place for him to stay at the farm, no matter what. He thanked her and dove right into the scent of orange, wine and cinnamon.

From outside he heard Eddie's loud, honest laugh and flinched a little. He could make out a fire in the backyard, Hopper, Max and Eddie sitting around it. His stomach dropped.

„How have you guys been?“, Steve asked quietly.

Joyce shook her head and sighed.

„You know. They all still miss them and they are teenagers about it.“, she admitted. Steve knew she mainly meant Mike.

„And Max?“ His eyes drifted towards the kitchen window, seeing her in her wheelchair in front of the fireplace.

„We have good days and we have some bad days as well. But she likes her room downstairs now. In the beginning she didn't want it. She wanted to be upstairs too, I think.“

Steve nodded. Max could be stubborn.

Joyce looked out the window too, with soft eyes.

“Owens wanted her to do physical therapy again in Chicago. But she hates it. There are so many hurt people, she said. From Hawkins, you know. It makes her feel more sick, so we're trying to let her pick the pace.”

Steve could make out light and shadow dancing in accord to the fire in the backyard, it painted a beautiful picture.

„You know... She is such a brave kid. They all are. But it's worse around holidays.“

„It's worse for all of us... I know. But-“, Steve started.

„-but they're still kids.“ Joyce ended Steve's sentence, nodding.

When Max woke up, she was blind. That was the one thing, nobody was able to heal. Physical therapy helped. But Max couldn't walk further than a few steps at a time. Sometimes she uses the wheelchair, on better days just a crutch.

In the first weeks after the earthquakes and Henry's death, nobody knew what to do, so they just tried to hang in there. People of Hawkins who didn't leave immediately, went through some shit too, to quote Dustin.

A part of Steve was happy, other people had to face the facts. It wasn't nice to keep watch, or to be the only one of a handful of people to know exactly what was happening. Hawkins was a nuclear wasteland now, basically. There were people dressed in hazard suits all over the place, trying to make sure whatever happened, would never happen again. And most importantly, stays in Hawkins. He wasn't even sure what the news were reporting anymore and he didn't care.

The portals were canyons in the ground. A whole new generation of several Murray Baumans popped up. But luckily people decided that they were looking for aliens. Another couple of perfectly placed conspiracies later, nobody would question it anymore. Hawkins was a travesty. Keep away. Don’t listen to loons.

When they brought Max to Chicago, they brought Will and Eddie too. Will sat next to her hospital bed a lot, when she would cry out in her sleep and shiver.

„Soldiers have that too.“, Will explained to her one day and Hopper standing behind him, nodded. “That is true.”, he said, with a certain look in his eyes, the kids didn’t understand yet.

As for Eddie, it was a different situation. He wasn't flayed, he wasn't used by the cruel forces that governed the up side down. He was meant to be soil, he was meant to be eaten. Kept alive to feed upon. That's why his heart rate slowed down, he thought he was dying. That's what dying must feel like, he was sure, he once confined in Steve, his eyes glazed over. In the beginning Steve was angry with Eddie, because he did not stick to the plan and put himself in danger. But in the end, the kettle was talking to the pot or something like that. He would have done the same. He just got lucky.

Max's mum stopped to visit a while before she woke up. When she was still at Hawkin's hospital. Joyce saw her smoke a cigarette, hands shivering, in front of the badly run building, the dust only partly settled over the small town.

The kids figured, she was one of the ones who took the money and moved away too, without looking back. Who knows? Maybe she was threatened. Maybe she couldn't deal with the pain. The only thing they knew was, that Max's mum disappeared

.Except for one small flower bouquet, and a letter that was adressed to 'my brave little warrior', that arrived on Max's birthday last year. Joyce read the letter to Max. She cried heavily, looking younger than she was in her hospital gown. But nobody else got to know what it said.

Half of Max's face was paralyzed too. After Joyce made a very clear statement, of what she thought of the lack of help they received dealing with Max's recovery, she was transferred from Chicago to a facility near New York, to help her learn to walk again and whatever else, she needed. Steve figured, Doctor Owen made sure all of them got the treatment they deserved, even if it was not the treatment they needed.

But no treatment could ever really fix what the years had done to them. There was no therapy for them. Because what happened to them, didn't happen in real life, normally. No therapists making up plans for their specific mental health recovery. There was trauma therapy for the body and trauma therapy for soldiers, They knew about it since the Vietnam war. But that was a different kind of horror. Speaking to psychiatrists about it, sometimes felt like talking to a child, about things only grown ups could understand.

Steve remembered the long talks on the phone with Joyce, who had lots of sleepless nights. Nights full of tears. Steve was happy to be there on the other end of the line, after he got released, deemed healthy enough. Sometimes he wondered if the demobat poison got to him, lasting effects. But nobody could tell him for sure, that it was the concussions and not up side down rabies, the kind Robin was afraid of. Bless her.

Steve stepped closer to the kitchen window, to get a better look at the three of them.

Max was cuddled up in a big blanket, her red hair shimmering from the flames dancing through the dark of the night.

Opposite her on the other side of the fire, Eddie was gesticulating wildly. Max laughed, Hopper next to her was shaking his head, covering his eyes. He wondered what they talked about. They seemed happy enough.

„Oh, it is you! I thought I heard something annoying.“ Robin peeked through the door to the living room, a sparkle in her eyes. Steve rolled his eyes and opened his arms to welcome her into a hug.

Robin basically jumped into his arms and kissed his cheek. „You took your sweet time!”

„I’m glad to see you too, Robs.“, he said swaying her left to right, like she was a baby.

Robin was wearing a glittery happy new year crown, that jostled up her hair a bit. Her cheeks were red, either from the cold outside or from the wine. Maneuvering him from the kitchen to the spacious living room, the first thing Steve saw, was Nancy and Jonathan sitting on the the couch. Next to them was a small TV, something random playing. They probably were waiting for the live broadcast from Time Square to start. He also glanced at the Christmas tree Hopper stole from the forest. Allegedly.

„Look what the cat dragged in!“ Nancy was already lulling a little bit, her identical happy new year crown sitting slightly off center on her brown curls. She greeted him with a raised „Best dad ever“ cup, that clearly belonged to Hop. „Sit down and have some wine with us.“

Robin looked at her with a mixture of amusement and worry. „I think its time the cat dragged in some water...“, Robin said in a hushed voice, fixing Nancy's crown.

„Hey Nance.“ Steve kissed her forehead and sat on the cozy chair next to Jonathan, being glad that this wasn't his problem anymore, looking at Nance swatting Robin's hand away.

Jonathan took a big sip of his beer and for a second there, Steve felt insecure because he was drinking mulled wine from a cute cup, instead of something more manly, but decided to shake it off. He greeted Jonathan with a nod and a brotherly pat on the shoulder.

„How was the drive?“ Jonathan asked casually. „Hell, it was really icy the last couple of miles.“

They both nodded, indistinct voices of the TV exhilarating the silence.

One could have easily thought, the tension in the room was two ex-boyfriends feeling out some sort of rivalry, over Nancy, but it was far better than that.

Steve was already quite used to Robin and Nancy kissing, being aggressively cute and holding hands, whispering into each others ears. Jonathan wasn't mad about it, Steve knew that for sure, it was more like, that he still was a bit...bewildered. For him it was the first time, seeing them together live, in action and out. He'd get used to it soon enough, Steve thought.

Joyce opened the door to the backyard. „You're going to have to put some more wood into the fire if you want to grill anything tonight!“ She frowned. „Eddie! Could you get some more from the shed? Max! Max, are you cold? Come inside if you're cold!“ She let the door fall into the frame again and left for the kitchen, rattling around with dishes, saying something under her breath about catching death.

Jonathan got up to help his mum prepare sausages for the kids to grill over the fire and get the Lasagnas into the oven, for the people who didn't want to freeze their toes off in the snow outside, but still wanted to eat.

Eddie came back out of the shed with a filled basket of chopped wood and followed Hopper's instructions on how to perfectly place the wood, for maximum fire and heat. He was surprisingly compliant. Steve noticed his big dark green Jacket and the fluffy looking ear-warmers, that surely weren't his, but one of the girl's. He thought maybe El's.

Steve got up to look out the door. Behind him, Robin tried to get Nancy to down a little bit of water. There was no way in hell, he wanted to be part of that situation, so he slipped into some of Hoppers „backyard shoes“ he left by the door and made his way towards the fire, trying not to get any snow into the brown slippers.

The warm smell of burnt wood and the fire's tender cracking made Steve feel cozy immediately.

Eddie cursed, when he dropped a piece of wood he wanted to staple on top into the pit.

„The trick for these kinds of fires is to stack them up, it's called the log cabin method.“ Hopper explained. „But you need a stable foundation for that. Which Eddie here, didn't provide. That's why he keeps dropping wood and burning his little phalanges.“ He leaned towards Max, a soft tone, when he said the last part of the sentence. She chuckled.

„They're not.... little.“ Eddie sounded defeated, looking at his own hands.

Was this a sort of revenge for all the times Eddie was a nuisance as teenager?

None of them saw Steve approach at first, so he stopped and took in the scene again. Wood-smoke, Pine, mulled wine, cold air. He breathed in and stepped closer. Before he greeted Hop or Eddie, he crouched next to Max and said „Hey, it's Steve.“, before he reached out to take her hand in his, she grabbed him tight.

„Merry christmas, again.“ , Steve said.

“You're a bit late for that.“ She rubbed her thumb over Steve's hand. With his other hand, he shook Hopper's.

„Thanks for having me, Chief.“, Steve teased.

„Don't call me that. Nice to see you too, kid.“

„Are you teaching Eddie how to make a bonfire?“ Steve asked Max.

„Yeah. But he sucks, apparently.“

„I do not suck. I just prefer a different method. The Tepee method.“ Eddie rolled his eyes and then winked at Steve, who had to break eye-contact suddenly, to look at the snow.

His eyes were as sparkly as Robin's. Eddie's hair was falling into his face, framing it like a painting, making soft shadows around his eyes. Steve got up to meet him face to face.

„Hey, man.“ he said.

„Hey man.“, Eddie answered in a mocking tone, a smile escaping his lips.

They were silent for a brief moment, before Eddie opened his arms to embrace Steve in a big hug. Eddie picket him up, not letting him go until Steve squirmed, „Ok, that's enough, I just drove for 5 hours straight. My neck is about to snap.“

Eddie let him down gently, but hugged him a little tighter, before he let go.

There was a year's worth of hugging in the small amount of time after Steve's arrival. It made him feel uncomfortable and at ease at the same time.

„Hey, that Wheeler girl, she still drunk?“ Hopper asked.

„Yeah. I guess. Robin is working on it.“, Steve informed him.

„Fuck me.“, Hopper got up. „I'm going to help Joyce. You boys can sharpen some sticks, for the sausages.“ He lifted the blanket off his shoulders and threw it around Steve.

„Make sure, they don't accidentally kill each other, Max. Knives are sharp.“

„Will do.“, she said.

„And bring my slippers you stole back inside, Harrington. Don't get 'em dirty“ Hop looked at his feet and then winked.

Eddie sat down next to Max and took one of the knives Hop had supplied earlier for sharpening things out of the green toolbox with the chipped off paint.

„Good old fashioned detective work.“ Eddie said, raising his eyebrows at Steve. “Eyes and ears everywhere.”

„He wasn't such a good detective when it came to Robin and Nance.“, Max said.

Steve wrapped himself into the blanket and sat across them, picking up a stick and a knife as well.

„Oh, so you know about all of these things?“, Steve asked, trying to sound casual.

„I'm blind, not dumb, Steve.“, Max supplied in a dry fashion.

There was a little sting in both Eddie's and Steve's heart. Max was making jokes, she was adjusting quickly. But people around her, had a harder time, walking around eggshells and treating her more like a child than they did with the other kids. She hated that. It took her power away, she said.

„So, how did he find out?“, Steve asked.

„Well.“ Eddie chuckled, chipping away on his stick. „We all arrived yesterday. Joyce was making sure, everyone has a proper place to sleep. The shrimps all decided to sleep on mattresses on the ground in the attic, because that's a thing they do.“

„And Hopper didn't understand, why Nance and Jonathan didn't protest, when he said girls and guys are sleeping separately and he put her in a room with Robin.“, Max added.

„He still thought Nancy and Jonathan were dating. Even though it has been ages.“, Eddie chimed in.

Steve listened to them intently, smiling into himself, seeing Hoppers red face in front of his mind's eye.

„So then,“, Max continued, „he came back from the forest with some twigs and sticks yesterday evening, because Dustin and Will decided they wanted to grill sausages and have s'mores over the open fire today and he saw Nance and Robin kiss on the front porch.“

„It was very romantic. They were sitting on the Hollywood swing, drinking hot cocoa or something.“ Eddie said and looked intently on the ground, watching the little pieces of wood hit the snow, while he sharpened away.

„It was like he saw mum kiss Santa Clause.“, he sang, avoiding Steve's eyes.

Hop used to be a cop in New York, before he moved back to Hawkins, so Steve thought, two women kissing shouldn't be really big news.

„He was really angry, because he said Joyce didn't fill him in and he made a fool of himself. She laughed it off, saying, that he should pay better attention.“

„That sound amazing.“ Steve said, handling the knife carefully. His motor skills got better with the exercises he did, but sometimes he still struggled. Plus he left his glasses in the car, which he wasn't too vain to wear all the time. No, sir.

„How was it at your parent's house?“, Eddie asked carefully towards Steve.

He sighed. „You know. Cold, almost empty. I got most of my shit out. Did Wayne not want to come?“

Max kept quiet, listening to them talk, she seemed to enjoy the warmth on her face.

Eddie scoffed. „He is stubborn like a mule. 'I've always celebrated this way.'“ he tried to copy Wayne's voice, swinging the knife around with his right hand.

Max put her hand on Eddies shoulder.

„Don't swing the knife around.“

„Right. I'm sorry.“ He cleared his throat. „So he stayed home. I was surprised the van went all the way without breaking. I already saw myself freeze to death on the side of the road.“

„If El survived in the woods eating Squirrels, you can survive walking a mile to find a phone, don't you think?“, Max said.

Steve chuckled as Eddie turned his head towards her and looked her up and down one eyebrow raised. „We might have to take you inside, the cold is getting to you, Mayfield.“

A loud crack in the fire seemed to have spooked Steve for a second there. He half-dropped the knife mid-motion and cut into his thumb, cursing.

„Jesus Christ! Fucking shit!“

„What happened?“

„Steve cut himself.“, Eddie answered and produced a tissue out of his jacket. He knelt in front of Steve and took his hand into his to look at the cut.

„Is it bad? Should we go inside to get Joyce?“ Max tried to hide her worry.

„No it's nothing. I'm just an idiot, apparently.“ Steve said calmply, investigating the cut in the light of the fire..

„It's not deep.“, Eddie reassured.

Before anything else could happen, Eddie brought Steve's Hand towards his mouth and sucked the blood off his finger, without hesitation and placed the tissue around the cut, to stop the bleeding.

Steve's mind went blank for a second, when he felt Eddies tongue on his skin. Eddie didn’t look up at Steve. Steve wasn't sure if it was the physical fire in front of them, or some special fire, that was inside Eddie.

„Hold that. Stop the bleeding.“, he said, while he held the tissue around Steves finger.

„Was that... is that sanitary?!“ Steve uttered finally.

„Probably not. Let's get inside and find a band-aid.“

Eddie got up and loosened the breaks on Max's wheelchair to pushed her towards the house.

“Come on, Harrington. Last one in the house is uh,... a chicken!“, he shouted over his shoulder.

Steve looked up from the tissue around his thumb. He shook his head and smiled, watching Eddie make racing-car noises as he pushed Max up the ramp.

Okay, so Auld Long Syne means long long time ago or something, right? And they sing Should auld acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot And days of auld lang syne?

And I was like, yes this is my brand of SAD. But they are going to GROW together as a FAMILY and Steve and Eddie are gonna KISS and be GAY

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