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It’s shaping up to be the hottest summer on record in Hawkins.
At least, that’s what they said on the radio this morning. Steve thinks they might be right, or he would if he could even think in this heat. If it keeps going up at this rate, it’s gonna kill him before the end of his shift.
He says as much to Robin, who groans.
“Oh, shut up. I’m the one who has to man the counter every ten minutes while you go to the bathroom to fix your hair.”
Which, okay, it’s not every ten minutes. And Steve can’t help it if his hair reacts badly to this humidity and needs a little extra love. He’s got a reputation to maintain, or whatever tattered shreds of it remain.
“Whatever, it’s not like we’ve got any customers,” he mutters, collapsing against the counter next to Robin. “Nobody wants to leave their house to rent movies in this heat.”
As if sensing a chance to prove Steve wrong, Dustin and Lucas pick that exact moment to enter. Steve works up some reserve strength to raise his head and he does not like the look on their faces.
“Whatever you’re thinking, no.”
Dustin frowns. “We didn’t say anything yet.”
“Don’t have to, I see it in your whole,” Steve gestures at them, giving up in the middle of the sentence, “thing. God, don’t make me say stuff. It’s too hot.”
“That’s what we’re here about,” Dustin says. “Remember Lover’s Lake?”
Steve stares.
“Right.” Dustin laughs. “Of course you do. Well, we were gonna drive out there tomorrow. You know,” he points at Lucas, who mimics diving and lets out a tiny ‘woo’, “to swim and cool off.”
Steve snorts. “And by ‘we were gonna drive’, I’m guessing you mean you need me to drive you?”
The boys give him hopeful smiles.
“Hm. No.”
“And-” Lucas quickly adds, “we want you to come along. You and Robin! ‘Cause you’re our friends?”
“Try saying that like it’s not a question,” Steve says. “Also, for all you know we could be working tomorrow.”
“You’re not,” Dustin says confidently. “I already called and asked.”
Steve turns to Robin, who looks completely remorseless over her betrayal.
“They called while you were in the bathroom,” she says.
“Are you all going?” Steve asks. The boys nod and he points in triumph. “Then there won’t be enough room in my car!”
“Eddie already agreed to come along,” Lucas says. “We just need one more driver. Which will be you…?”
Steve thinks on that. Okay, so Eddie’s gonna be there. To swim. Possibly in a swimsuit, no shirt on?
But how does he say yes now without looking suspicious?
“Nancy’s gonna be there,” Dustin sing-songs.
“We’re in,” Robin says immediately.
Steve groans, burying his head in his crossed arms. The boys barely notice, too busy cheering.
Dustin nudges his elbow. “See you tomorrow, right Steve?”
Steve raises one hand in a half-hearted wave. “Yeah, yeah.”
He doesn’t look up again until he hears the bell ring and the door close. He can’t even blame Dustin and Lucas for bailing as soon as they got what they wanted; the AC at Family Video follows its own whims and today is apparently its day off.
“Could you have agreed any faster?” he complains to Robin. “Now Dustin’s gonna think you’re on his side with the whole ‘getting Steve and Nancy back together’ agenda.”
Robin shrugs. “Who cares? Let the kid have his fun, it’s not like it’s gonna happen.”
“I care! I’m the one he’s gonna be bugging all summer.”
“Relax.” Robin wags her eyebrows. “Just lay back and think of Eddie in his swimsuit.”
Steve doesn’t have the energy to shove her so he makes do with flipping her the bird.
The next day, rested up and cooled down by the actual functioning AC in his home, Steve’s ready to admit that a trip to the lake sounds like a pretty good idea.
If only it were any other lake, but well. It’s Hawkins, options are limited.
He swings by Robin’s place first. She, as per usual, isn’t ready when he arrives but he lays on the horn until she comes running out, hairbrush still in one hand.
“You’ll wake up the entire neighborhood, asshole,” she says as she enters the car. “Did you bring sunscreen? I brought some but there’s a lot of us, one bottle might not be enough and I’m not sure anyone else thought of it-”
“I brought sunscreen,” Steve assures her. “Now can you buckle up? Henderson and the Wheelers are waiting.”
Robin rolls her eyes but does as told. “We’re ahead of schedule, anyway.”
She finishes running the brush through her hair, checking her teeth and then makeup in the mirror. At her third pass-around of examining every facial feature, Steve sighs.
“Would you relax? You look fine.” He snorts. “Besides, didn’t Nancy make the first move while you were hungover and had major bedhead? She’s not gonna notice if you’ve got some mascara on your eyelids or whatever.”
Robin sits back in her seat, sighing. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“Doesn’t happen too often, don’t let it get you down.”
They drive in silence for a little while, only broken by the music playing quietly on the radio, still switched to whatever station Robin picked yesterday.
“Thanks for agreeing to this,” Robin finally says.
Steve shrugs. “Going down to the lake wasn’t a bad idea, honestly. I just gotta give those guys shit, they already get away with enough as it is.”
“Going down to the lake, yeah. But this isn’t just any lake.”
A chill runs down Steve’s spine at the reminder. So they are gonna mention it. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“I’m not,” Robin says simply. “You almost died down there, Steve. I don’t like remembering that. But we gotta go back there sooner or later, or it’s gonna haunt us forever.”
Steve swallows past the lump that’s suddenly in his throat. “Technically, it wasn’t down there.”
“Deflect all you want, Harrington.” Robin’s words are blunt but her voice is soft, uncharacteristically so. “That was one of the worst moments of my life. If you had died, I don’t know - it would have been like a part of me died.”
The car slows down to a crawl. At some point, Steve must have let go of the accelerator but he doesn’t remember. He stares at Robin, feeling like the breath has been knocked out of him. She stares back, and Steve can tell she’s uncomfortable with this naked display of emotion but she holds eye contact anyway, daring him to protest.
“Yeah, well,” he finally croaks. “Ditto.”
Robin nods. Finally looks away, clearly embarrassed. “You wanna keep driving?”
Steve blinks. Fuck, when did the road get so blurry?
He starts the car again.
They pick up Dustin, who brings all of one towel, and then the Wheelers, who between them are carrying a cooler, two towels plus one extra, a big bag of - in Nancy’s words - ‘beach essentials’ and a big inflatable ball. Most of it goes in the trunk, with Mike bringing the ball with him into the backseat.
“Start throwing that around while I’m driving and you’re getting left on the side of the road,” Steve warns.
Mike scoffs. “I’m not an idiot.”
“Hey, Nance,” Robin says quietly. She’s looking at Nancy in the rearview mirror, a pink blush already rising to her cheeks.
“Hey,” Nancy responds, badly concealing a smile.
Jesus. Steve glances in the rearview mirror but all he sees is Wheeler Junior giving him a major stink eye.
“This is gonna be fun,” he mutters.
“Whoo,” Dustin cheers from the backseat.
Eddie and the others beat them there. The kids are already in the lake, splashing around and shrieking, and Dustin and Mike nearly trip over themselves as they exit the car to join them, tearing off their clothes and leaving them strewn around on the ground.
“Hey, buttheads,” Steve calls. “Sunscreen first, then you can play.”
He goes roundly ignored.
Steve turns to Robin. “If Henderson thinks I’m gonna help apply aloe vera to his third degree burns later, he’s sorely mistaken.”
“You’re such a mom,” Robin says, shrugging off her clothes and piling them haphazardly in the front seat. “Let them deal with the consequences of their actions, yeah?”
“You were the one freaking out about-”
Steve’s cut off by Robin’s shirt flying at his face. He rolls his eyes but turns around and starts stripping; it feels a little weird to be doing this while facing the girls, even if they’re all wearing swimsuits underneath.
Clearly, Robin’s not as big on modesty. “Nice bush. Ever heard of a razor?”
Steve throws her shirt back at her. She catches it, laughing. “For your information, the ladies love it.” He leans in, adding quietly, “And they’re not the only ones.”
“I guess that’s my cue.”
Steve turns around and there’s Eddie and for a moment, his heart stutters before he realizes - Eddie’s fully clothed. Sure, he’s ditched the jacket but he’s still wearing a tshirt and dark jeans, looking like he just rolled in from work.
“Disappointed?” Eddie asks, grinning like he knows exactly what Steve is thinking.
“No,” Steve says defensively. “Why would I be?”
“Hm, why indeed.” Eddie tilts his head, eyes roaming unashamedly over Steve’s body. “You’re just gonna have to get used to being the eye candy in this relationship.”
Steve crosses his arms, not uncomfortable by the way Eddie’s staring so much as how much he likes it, in front of the girls. “Don’t objectify me.”
Nancy snorts. “Are you guys done?”
Like Steve didn’t have to deal with her and Robin mooning over each other for the entire car ride there.
“You’re not gonna swim?” Robin asks Eddie.
“Nah,” Eddie says. “Not really my thing.” He pauses. “Honestly, I’m surprised you three wanna go back in there.”
“Yeah, well.” Robin shrugs. “Can’t let fear rule us, can we?”
Steve can tell the words hit a little too close to home, Eddie’s smile going stiff. “Touché, Buckley.”
“Alright, lay off,” Steve says. “The man doesn’t have to swim if he doesn’t want to.”
“No one has to swim,” Nancy cuts in. “But we do have to put on sunscreen.”
The clumsy change in topic shouldn’t work but it’s Nancy, using her most no-nonsense tone, so of course it does. Even Eddie obediently gets his sunscreen on, like he’s not just gonna go sit in the shade by the van.
Steve pauses when he gets to his back, looking around. He wants to ask Eddie to help him but something about having his hands on him out in the open like this feels… dangerous. Even if the girls have already gotten each other’s backs, it’s not the same. He can tell Eddie’s thinking it too, glancing between Steve’s face and the bottle in his hands.
“Give it here,” Nancy says, not unkindly and Steve hands her the bottle, feeling a mix of relief and disappointment. She’s quick and dispassionate, and Steve wouldn’t have thought even a month ago that he’d ever care so little about Nancy Wheeler touching him but here they are.
Catcalls and whistles start echoing from the lake and of course it’s Dustin, Lucas and Max, the little shits. Will and Mike bob in the water next to them, looking as unamused as Steve feels.
Robin nudges him with her shoulder. “Race you to the water?”
And she starts running without waiting for an answer, kicking Steve’s shin as she goes. He curses, tripping when he goes to follow. Despite her blatant cheating, he manages to pass her, stumbling and falling nearly flat on his face as he wades into the lake. It’s a shock to the system, the water freezing compared to the air.
Steve emerges, spitting out the water he somehow managed not to swallow. Robin is right next to him, laughing, but it’s verging on hysterical, tinged with fear. Steve reaches out and with a trembling hand grabs hold of Robin’s.
“You okay?” he asks.
She pinches her lips shut, wiping her eyes with her free hand. “Yeah,” she finally answers. “Yeah, I think so. You?”
“I think so,” Steve echoes.
“You’re trembling.”
“So are you.”
Robin bursts out laughing again and Steve follows. He feels giddy despite the fear lurking just beneath the surface, ridiculously happy to be here, in the water again, and to have her with him.
He looks to the edge of the lake, where Nancy’s wading in, careful where Steve and Robin were reckless. Behind her - Steve’s heart drops - Eddie’s nowhere to be found.
“Where did he go?”
Robin cranes her head, looking around. “Probably went to get something from the van?”
She’s probably right but Steve doesn’t like it. He debates if getting out of the water to check would be worth how monumentally weird it’d make him look but he’s interrupted by a loud whistle.
They whirl around. Standing a little whiles down the shoreline, by where the water is deeper, is Eddie, stripped down to his underwear. His eyes catch Steve’s and he winks, then he’s jumping in with a thundering splash.
The kids cheer but Steve can barely hear them over the thundering of his own heartbeat, going into overdrive the longer Eddie stays under. Finally, he surfaces, shaking his hair like a wet dog. Steve starts swimming towards him, too relieved to remember why he should be nervous.
“Always gotta be the center of attention, don’t you?”
Eddie laughs. “I can’t help it, Harrington. I’m a natural showman!”
His grin softens into a genuine smile as Steve nears and Steve can’t help but echo it, a private moment amidst all the chaos. Of course, the kids gotta jump all over the moment, piling up next to Eddie and demanding he help them judge some diving contest, but it’s enough for Steve.
The sun is shining overhead, the water is cool and refreshing, and the kids are all together, happy and safe and obnoxiously loud the way they’re always meant to be.
Life’s pretty good, all things considered.
They spend the better part of the day by the lake. After they tire of swimming, the kids descend on the lunch Nancy packed - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bags of chips - like a herd of hungry locusts. They go right back into the water afterwards, the older teenagers staying on shore to rest in the shade, exhausted after trying to keep up all morning.
It’s not until evening nears that the kids can finally be coaxed out of the water, and then it’s more thanks to their rumbling stomachs than them having any inclination to do what Steve and the others tell them to.
They’ve just about finished putting everything away when Robin pulls Steve aside.
“So, Nancy and I kind of talked about catching a movie tonight,” she says, and Steve can already tell she’s gearing up to ask for a favor. “And we were wondering… can we borrow your car?”
And there it is. “Why? Just take the Wheeler’s car.”
“‘Cause, the movie starts in like twenty minutes and their house is in the opposite direction. And we still have to drop off the kids, and we’re probably already gonna be late as it is, and please, please, please?”
Steve sighs.
“Eddie can give you a ride home,” Robin adds.
“And the kids?” Steve asks. “They’re not all gonna fit.”
Robin gives him a look. “There’s plenty of space in Eddie’s van. They just wanted an excuse to invite you. You know that, right?”
“I… yeah, of course.” Steve clears his throat, trying not to show how happy that makes him. “But…”
“But…?” Robin prompts.
Goddamnit.
Steve reaches into his pocket, holding out the key. Robin snatches it gleefully.
“You’re a saint!”
“Whatever. You don’t touch the wheel, got it?”
But Robin’s already halfway towards Steve’s car, where Nancy waits leaning against the hood. “A saint, Harrington!”
Steve trudges back to the van, where Eddie and the kids are waiting.
“What the hell?” Mike says. “They took your car?”
Steve scoffs. “Whatever, shrimp, get in the back.”
As if sensing an argument about to break out, Eddie holds up his hand. “Adults up front, kids in the back.”
“You guys are barely adults,” Max protests.
“I’m just as tall as he is,” Mike says.
Dustin, the traitor, crosses his arms. “Why? Do you like Steve better than us?”
“Yes,” Eddie says. “Now get in the car. Anyone not in by the time I start the engine will be left behind.”
It does the trick. The kids grumble but do as told and Steve gets his shotgun seat without having to fight any ninth graders for it. He shoots Eddie a grateful look, who throws him a playful salute.
The drive home is quiet - seven hours in the sun is apparently enough to exhaust even the most determinedly annoying young teenager. Steve checks on them regularly in the rearview mirror; El is asleep, head resting on Max’s shoulder. Lucas looks like he’s about to pass out as well, eyelids drooping as he stares out the window. Dustin and Will are quietly arguing about something probably nerdy, Dustin’s cheeks and nose red with sunburn.
Mike, however, is glaring at the back of Steve’s head.
“Okay,” he finally says, fifteen minutes in. “What’s with the stink eye, dude?”
If anything, Mike doubles down on his glaring. “You know they just broke up, right?”
Steve turns around, bewildered. “What? Who?”
“Hey, come on,” Dustin says. “That wasn’t his fault.”
“Jonathan and Nancy,” Mike says. “It’s not cool to steal someone’s girlfriend.”
Unbelievable. Steve pinches the bridge of his nose, already feeling his head ache. He glances at Eddie, who looks way too amused at the situation and not sympathetic in the least.
“Okay, first of all,” Steve says. “Nancy’s, like, her own person. No one’s stealing her, she picks who she wants to date herself.”
“Right on,” says Eddie. Steve smacks his arm.
“Second, Nancy and I are not a thing. We’re not dating, okay?”
The kids are all watching him now, and none of them look convinced.
“Then why did she put sunscreen on you?” Mike argues.
Steve really should be getting paid for this shit. “‘Cause we’re friends, and friends do nice shit like that for each other. Or did I not see you and Will get each other’s backs?”
Mike scoffs. Next to him, Will turns his head, looking out the window with an uncomfortable expression.
“I don’t believe you,” Mike says.
“Alright, lay off,” Eddie says, finally cutting in. “Steve’s telling the truth. He’s not dating Nancy.”
“Thank you,” Steve mutters.
“He’s seeing someone else.”
That’s it. Good kisser or no, Steve’s gonna kill Eddie.
“What?” Dustin exclaims, suddenly fully involved in the conversation. “Since when?”
“You’re dead,” Steve hisses at Eddie, who only smirks in return. To Dustin, he says, “It’s only been a couple of weeks. A month, at the most.”
“A month?” Dustin repeats, scandalized. “Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
And the kicker is, he actually looks sore about it. It’s a fair question; if Steve was dating a girl for as long as he’s been… seeing? hooking up with? whatever he’s doing with Eddie, he would have told Dustin about it by now.
But he’s not dating a girl, is he?
“I didn’t wanna jinx it?” Steve tries.
Unfortunately, Dustin looks even more intrigued. “You like her that much?”
“Is it Robin?” Lucas asks.
Fucking… “No! For the last time, Robin and I are just friends.”
Dustin grins. “Is she a babe?”
Steve glances at Eddie, who preens playfully. “Uh. Sure?”
“Is she smart?”
“No, definitely not.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Eddie cuts in. “Boundaries, yeah? Let’s respect them.”
The kids fall silent, chastened. Mike looks away, completely uninterested in Steve now that he doesn’t have a reason to openly antagonize him. Only Dustin looks really disappointed and Steve feels a pang of guilt as his hangdog expression. He doesn’t know why he’s being left out of the loop, of course he’s gonna be bummed about it.
The rest of the car ride is uneventful as they drop the kids off one by one. Finally, it’s just Eddie and Steve.
“You’re an asshole, you know that?”
Eddie shrugs. “There was no way Wheeler was gonna buy your innocence without an alibi.”
“Yeah, but now Dustin thinks I’ve been keeping stuff away from him.”
“Yeah, well, it’s for a good reason. Just make up a name and tell him you broke up with her a week from now.”
Steve looks out the window. They’re already on his street and the van starts slowing down soon, coming to a stop by the driveway. Eddie’s right, of course. That doesn’t make it any easier; he cares about the rest of the kids but Dustin’s different. Always has been. Steve doesn’t want him to think he doesn’t trust him.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” Steve runs his hand over his face. “Yeah, I guess so.” He looks up at his house, big and beautiful and empty. “You wanna come inside? Order some pizza, make out on the couch?”
Eddie grins. “Why Steve, I thought you’d never ask.”
No amount of telling himself ‘Eddie is right’ makes Steve feel any easier with the situation. He knows he doesn’t have to tell Dustin, might even be better off keeping his mouth shut, but he doesn’t want to do that. He wants Dustin to know and he wants him to be okay with it. He thinks he might be. Kid or no, Dustin’s probably the smartest person Steve knows.
A couple of days later, he gives and calls Dustin, asking him if he wants to go out for ice cream. Dustin agrees immediately.
Great. Now it’s just the hard part.
The entire way over, Steve tries to decide how to bring it up. As soon as Dustin enters the car, it turns out he doesn’t have to bother.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were dating someone?”
“Nice to see you too,” Steve says. “Seatbelt.”
Dustin rolls his eyes, putting his seatbelt on with a passive-aggressive flourish. “Nice to see you. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Steve can do this. “There’s a very good reason.”
“Which is?”
He really should have thought this through earlier. How did Robin do this? Maybe he should have tried to score some Russian truth serum before he came here.
“Okay.” He takes in a deep breath, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Then, lightbulb. Maybe he can put this in terms Dustin will understand? “Okay, you know how there are some people - assholes - who think Lucas and Max shouldn’t be together because he’s black and she’s white?”
There’s a stunned silence.
“Steve.” Dustin sounds horrified. “Is that how you think of us?”
“What?”
“You don’t wanna introduce her to us because she’s black?”
Steve is gonna brain himself on the steering wheel. “No, that’s not - quit interrupting, Henderson. Look, the way some people are about Lucas and Max… it’s the same a lot of people are about two guys being together. Or two girls. And they’re wrong, just like they are about Lucas and Max. Because it’s fine. More than fine. Great, even.”
Steve pauses, wondering what he should say next. He glances at Dustin, who’s staring at him in shock. Okay, no need to keep going. Looks like Dustin’s quicker on the uptake than Steve was.
The seconds tick by and the longer Dustin doesn’t speak, the bigger the knot in Steve’s stomach gets.
“Henderson? You gonna say anything?”
Dustin lets out a weird noise, halfway between a laugh and a huff. “Excuse me if I need a moment, that was some very big news you just dropped on me.”
“Well, don’t go all quiet,” Steve says. “It weirds me out!”
“Okay, but you’re -” Dustin sputters. “But you and Nancy?”
“I loved her. You can like both.”
Dustin boggles. “You can?”
“Apparently,” Steve says with a shrug. Like he’s not living proof.
“Is it Eddie?”
Steve’s heart drops to his stomach, and he barely manages to choke out, “What?”
“It is!” Dustin crows. “You’re dating Eddie!”
“I…” Steve runs his hand through his hair, “I’m not at liberty to discuss.”
“You know that’s as good as a yes, right?”
Steve pulls up on the side of the road, taking the executive decision to stop before he crashes the car. This is not a conversation he can have while driving.
He turns to Dustin. “How did you know?”
Dustin looks thoroughly unimpressed. “He’s the only guy your age you hang out with, genius.”
“Fine, it’s Eddie,” Steve admits, even though he probably shouldn’t. “But keep a lid on it, will you? You’re the first person I’ve told.”
Dustin blinks. “...I’m the first?”
“I mean, Robin and Nancy know but we didn’t tell them, they kind of… found out.”
“I’m the first?” Dustin repeats. His eyes are shining.
“Yeah.” Steve clears his throat. “So, uh. Are you okay with it?”
He tries to say it casually. Like the wrong response wouldn’t break his heart. Like he’s not terrified of what might happen if Dustin decides to be an asshole about this and go blabbing about it to other people.
“Does he make you happy?”
Steve stares but there’s no indication in Dustin’s expression that he’s any less than one hundred percent serious. “I… yeah?”
Dustin nods. “Then I’m okay with it.”
It’s like a giant weight lifted off Steve’s chest. Like breathing easy for the first time in a decade. “That’s - thanks, man. Means a lot.”
With trembling hands, Steve shifts gears and gets back up on the road. Time to get the kid his ice cream.
“You know Eddie’s not stupid, right?” Dustin asks after a couple of miles of silence.
Steve gives him an incredulous side glance. “What?”
“Eddie,” Dustin repeats. “You said whoever you’re dating was stupid. But he’s not.”
Steve wants to cry. All of that worry and the only thing Dustin has a problem with is him calling Eddie stupid? “I know, I was just messing with him.”
Dustin nods, satisfied.
“It’s weird that you called him a babe, though,” he adds.
Steve shrugs. “You asked.”
“For the record, Suzy’s much hotter.”
“Like you would know!”