Chapter Text
COVER ART BY GREEKGEEK24
“Okay, I asked around the school to find out what I could,” Robin starts, placing her tray down next to Steve’s at their otherwise empty cafeteria table. They’ve only been back to classes for half a day and he’s already established his status as a social pariah. Robin is the only person who will even talk to Steve (and not about him).
When she starts focusing on her food instead of continuing, he prompts her somewhat impatiently, “And?”
The beta stuffs some fries in her mouth and gives him an unamused look. He remains silent, but mirrors her expression.
Robin is still chewing when she finally responds, “Calm down, Steven. A girl’s gotta eat and I’m starving! Marching band always kicks my ass.”
The omega takes a deep breath and blows it out of his nose slowly, trying to control his irritation with his best friend. “Well, you can’t just start to tell me something and then stop. You know I’m anxious enough as it is, Robbie.”
Robin laughs and ruffles his hair affectionately. She’s the only one who touches him anymore, so he doesn’t complain even when she does annoying things like that, but he does duck away before she can do too much damage to his hairstyle.
“Alright, Stevie. Word on the street is that Eddie didn’t show up for exams because he was heartbroken after prom. So he failed again and has to do his senior year for the third time.” The omega’s stomach drops into his feet as he processes this information.
Their childish prank caused the alpha not to graduate again. Eddie had worked so hard to study and get better grades last year just for Steve’s selfishness to ruin it. He was already aware that he’d probably broken the alpha’s heart, but knowing he’d derailed the rest of Eddie’s life too?
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Steve whispers, his hand flying to his mouth.
Robin’s eyes soften and she rubs a soothing hand down his back. She’s more of a mother to him than his own ever was. “Oh, honey. It’s going to be okay. You told me yourself that you never intended to hurt Eddie. You may not have made some stellar choices, but this is ultimately Tommy’s fault.”
His guilt won’t allow that explanation to stand, so he protests quietly, “But I agreed to it. If I would’ve spoken up sooner or just stood up to Tommy he would’ve-”
She cuts him off with a roll of her eyes and a firm tone, “Beat the shit out of you? Hagan is a scumbag and he’s scary, Steve. You and I both know he was manipulating you because he wanted Eddie out of the way.”
He sighs, massaging his temples to attempt to fight off a stress-induced migraine. “Not like it really matters, Robs. Either way, it worked. I got humiliated, Eddie wants nothing to do with me, and I’ve spent all day running away from Tommy and his gang of idiots.”
Robin nods sympathetically, “I’m sure it will get better though, right? They haven’t seen you all summer, so they’re itching for a rematch, but they’ll get tired of it eventually.” Steve chuckles dryly at her hopeful tone. She has no idea how bad Tommy can really be when he’s mad and determined about something.
“Yeah, no. If he’s still as pissed as I think he is, he’s going to get his payback. It’s only a matter of time,” the omega says factually as he reaches over and steals a piece of broccoli from his friend’s tray. She doesn’t protest, always happy for him to take away anything green from her plate.
When she continues eating and drops the subject, Steve begins to subtly look around the cafeteria. Lots of wandering eyes still flicker towards his table occasionally and it’s almost a little funny to him. It’s as if they think they’ll be able to see a visible difference in him now that he’s out as an omega.
His gaze sweeps over all the tables until it locks on the one he was saving for last. The Hellfire Club table is full and of course Eddie Munson is sat in his rightful spot at the head, reading a magazine.
Steve squints as he takes inventory of the other students sitting there. He knew that most of the members were graduating last year, but he’s still surprised by the fact that most of the current ones are Eddie’s pups.
Gareth is seated on one side of the alpha and Dustin on the other. The remaining spots are occupied by Lucas, Mike, Will, El, and a redhead girl that Steve has never seen before (another incoming freshman, he assumes).
The omega doesn’t even realize that he’s staring until Gareth makes eye contact with him and the boy’s expression turns livid. Steve quickly averts his eyes to the table in front of him, but he can practically feel the heat of the other boy’s stare continue.
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Robin looking in the direction of the Hellfire table with a pissed off look on her face now.
“Stop it, Robbie. Don’t make it weird,” Steve whispers loudly, starting to sweat with worry. Gareth looked ready to kill him. As if the jocks wanting Steve dead wasn’t enough, now the nerds want a piece of him too. Jesus Christ.
The beta girl finally turns to face Steve again, her anger not dissipating any. “Fuck no. Gareth has nothing to do with this and he should keep his dumb face out of it. Eddie’s a big boy and he doesn’t need an attack dog.”
The omega snorts at that, his anxiety lessening a bit. Robin has a special gift for talking him down from his panic spirals.
“You’re not wrong, but I don’t want to make the situation any worse. I made enough mistakes last year, so I’m keeping my head down from now until graduation. No fights, no drama, and no conflict.” And definitely no Eddie Munson. The poor alpha has been through enough, Steve doesn’t want to make his life any harder.
Robin laughs obnoxiously loud, so hard that she ends up with an arm around his shoulders, burying her face in his shirt sleeve to stifle her boisterous cackling. “That’s hilarious, Stevie, but you and I both know that will never happen.”
Her dramatic reaction pulls a small smile from Steve and he moves his arm to give her a side hug.
A phantom itch on the back of the omega’s neck causes him to turn his head abruptly, his gaze focusing across the cafeteria.
Eddie is looking right at Steve, his face pinched with annoyance. Steve’s own eyes widen in surprise briefly before turning away, back to the girl who’s removing her limbs from his person now.
She whispers something softly, but he doesn’t catch it over the ringing, her mouth too far away.
“Sorry, what?”
Robin tries again slightly louder with her lips moving slower so he can read them easier, “Did it work?”
His confusion must be clear on his face because the beta smiles wide in amusement. “Did what work, Robin?” She laughs quietly for a moment before responding.
“Was Eddie looking at you?” Steve is still lost and he makes a questioning noise. “He was, wasn’t he? Did he look upset?” He nods hesitantly and she looks far too pleased with herself.
“So what? Is that a good thing?” Steve asks with a frown. He doesn’t understand why Eddie being pissed off equals something to be excited about. Personally, he would prefer that the alpha didn’t hate his guts.
The beta shakes her head, giving him a disappointed look. “That means he still cares, dingus. You just had a pretty girl throwing herself on top of you and laughing. And it upset him.”
Steve doesn’t tease Robin for referring to herself as pretty like he normally would.
Mostly because there’s a very small chance that she might possibly actually have a point here. Why would Eddie even bother looking his way if he doesn’t want anything to do with Steve?
Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but he takes the minuscule sliver of hope and tucks it away for a rainy day.
Luck is not on Steve’s side today as he discovers after lunch. As soon as he walks into his history class, he wants to turn right around and demand a schedule change. Because sitting in the classroom already are Tommy Hagan and Eddie Munson. The two people he’s been avoiding.
Tommy is sat in the front next to Jason and their faces instantly turn smug when they see him.
Steve hurries past them, pointedly avoiding looking anywhere near them. Ideally, he would sit all the way in the back, as far away as possible. Unfortunately, Eddie has already occupied the furthest corner and the omega has zero desire to bother him either.
Which leaves him stuck in the middle where everyone can stare openly at him. When the room fills up, Steve starts to feel a bit claustrophobic. He tries hard to focus on his breathing and not get overwhelmed, but it’s difficult.
At one point, their teacher steps out of the room to retrieve printed handouts from the copier. Her heels are barely past the doorway when Tommy turns around to look at him.
Steve stares down at his desk and turns his head slightly, ignoring the freckled boy as much as he’s able to. For the first time since it started, he’s actually grateful for the ringing in his left ear because he can’t entirely make out what Tommy’s saying to him.
After a minute of this, however, the omega’s curiosity gets the best of him and he looks up. It’s a mistake because the vindictive alpha is throwing as many quiet insults at him as possible. He’s clearly still wary of the teacher’s impending return.
“-fucking slut thinks he’s too good for the rest of us then? How the mighty have fallen. ‘King Steve?’ I don’t think so. Just a stupid, ugly omega.” Steve wishes he could shut down his emotions like after prom when he’d been numb. Because then he wouldn’t be giving Tommy the satisfaction of seeing how the words are affecting him so strongly.
The omega bites down on his lip, focusing on the physical pain rather than the emotional pain crushing him from having to hear his ex-friend speak about him like this.
As much as he’d like to refute the things Tommy is saying, he knows he deserves this and much more for his part in ‘The Plan.’ Any consequences of his actions from last year are his own fault.
When the alpha suddenly stops speaking and turns around in his seat, Steve assumes the teacher is back. But he glances over towards the door and doesn’t see her.
However, he sees Tommy look over his shoulder worriedly in the direction of the corner Eddie is sitting in. Steve resists the temptation to look back there himself. He feels like he definitely missed something, but it’s not like he can ask anyone what it was and he doesn’t want to see Eddie glaring at him again.
The teacher returns a minute later with handouts for them all and he mostly forgets about the incident. It’s been a weird first day back to school and he’s ready for it to be over.
“Steve!” The omega turns around on his way out the school doors to see who called his name. He sees Dustin’s unmistakable curly head of hair running towards him.
He’s not sure what to say to the younger boy, but Dustin’s smiling, so he smiles back lightly. Despite everything that went down between them, he had promised Eddie that he’d look after his sheepies and he intends to follow through with it. “Hey, Dustin,” he greets the freshman with an awkward wave.
“Sorry, I haven’t been able to talk to you today, Steve, but- uh, well with everything that went on with you and Eddie, I wasn’t sure if…” Dustin looks a bit uncomfortable and Steve nods his head reassuringly. He’s not trying to start anything that might upset the dungeon master either.
“I understand, you don’t need to apologize, buddy. I wouldn’t want to cause a rift between you guys or whatever. But if you ever need something, don’t hesitate to come find me. I-I’m not exactly popular anymore, but I’ll do my best to help you, yeah?” Steve tries hard to look like the confident senior that he’s pretending to be. The pups don’t need to get pulled into his mess.
Dustin nods in agreement, but his face looks a bit sad as he comes a little closer and his volume drops slightly. “Right, listen, I don’t know what all happened at prom. Eddie just kind of said you guys broke up, but it sounded like there was more to the story. And, like, you smelled like an alpha last time I met you, but now you’re not?”
Steve freezes at that. He forgot that Baby Hellfire Club wasn’t introduced to him when he was out. And Eddie clearly hadn’t dragged his name through the mud like he could’ve after the horrible prank he’d orchestrated with Tommy.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I can tell a lot has happened since then. And you just offered to help me if I need anything, but I want you to know the offer goes both ways, Steve.” His eyes water a bit at that, overwhelmed by the kindness from a kid who barely knows him.
He gives Dustin a grateful smile and a small, “Thank you,” unable to properly express how much it means to him. Steve’s only friend in the world is Robin, but knowing at least one other person doesn’t hate him is comforting. Even if it’s some dorky freshman wearing a Weird Al t-shirt.
“I gotta go before my mom starts blowing up my phone, but I’ll see you around, Steve?” The senior gives another nod as Dustin runs off.
Steve exits the building behind him at a slower pace. He’s not eager to go straight to the mall and change into his embarrassing sailor uniform. Robin is off today since she only works weekends for some spare cash, so he’ll be doing the closing shift solo.
When he’d done the math to calculate his wages, Steve found out that he has to work five days a week in order to have enough money to pay his parents for the rent and his cell phone each month. It’s exhausting working so many hours and Steve isn’t sure how he’s going to keep up with the schedule during the school year when he has homework, tests, and projects too.
But there’s no other choice. This is his life now. When the options are working his ass off or being homeless, there isn’t a decision to be made (just a job he needs to get to).