Steddie Hands, Steddie Heart

Chapter 6 - The Eavesdropper

Author's Note: Mainly Steve and Robin centered for this chapter but with a little twist. Even more Steve and Eddie content will be in the next chapter ;)

After the night he spent at the trailer, Steve could not stop thinking about Eddie for the life of him. Something about how Eddie treated him that night and the morning after. Truth be told, Steve was used to taking care of everyone around him. Despite his nonchalant aura, Steve was a worrier by nature, It just felt right for him to be fretting over the kids or Robin or Nancy. The way that Eddie stopped everything to take care of him was something he wasn't used to at all. Steve's naturally light-hearted demeanor just led everyone to believe that Steve was fine and perhaps even a little shallow. But Eddie seemed to see right past that. At the first sign that Steve was struggling emotionally, Eddie was already on high alert. Steve kept replaying the events in his head. The unconditional compassion that Eddie showed him. The unyielding support. The feeling of Eddie's rough hand on his cheek. The feeling of falling asleep in his arms...

"Steve? Hello? Earth to Steve Harrington."

Steve lifted his head from where it was resting in his hand and let out a hum of acknowledgment. He was leaning over the counter of Family Video on his elbow and Robin had caught him daydreaming.

"Are you high or something? There's a babe checking out the videos in aisle two and you haven't so much as glanced at her. She looks just your type. I thought you'd be all over her by now," Robin said.

"Not interested," Steve sighed.

Robin put a hand on her right hip.

"How do you know you're not interested in her if you don't even know what she looks like?" she questioned.

Steve's eyes scanned the room before falling on the girl in aisle two. The top half of her wavy brown hair was pulled back neatly with a clip. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a pink sweater. A brown pocketbook swung near her hip and her makeup was sweet but simple. When he looked back to Robin, she had her arms crossed at her chest, eyes focused on his face expectantly.

"She kind of looks like Nance," Steve noted.

"Exactly. Your type."

Steve scoffed.

"Look, if you want Nancy you could have her. You don't have to find me a replacement. I told you, I'm over her," He assured her.

Robin raised a brow at this.

"That's not what I'm trying to do. It's just that normally you'd be basically drooling over this girl. Today you aren't even giving her the time of day. Actually, you haven't been giving any girl the time of day for the past week. What the hell happened between you and Eddie that night," she asked.

Now that Steve thought about it, it really had been a week since that night at Eddie's. The week had kind of passed in a blur of replaying the same thoughts over and over again. Thinking about Eddie's hands, his warm brown eyes, his charmingly unkempt hair, the way his lips...

"Hey! Stay with me Harrington!" Robin practically yelled in his ear, making him jump.

"Yeah, right, sorry," he answered.

Steve pondered a response to Robin's initial question. As much as he adored Robin from the bottom of his heart, what happened between him and Eddie felt very intimate. Not only did Steve not want to worry Robin by telling her about his panic attacks, but he knew that Eddie wouldn't appreciate him sharing intimate details about his childhood.

"To answer your question, nothing happened between us, okay?"

"It didn't look like nothing," Robin said. "I mean, I saw you guys cuddling."

"We were NOT cuddling. We just fell asleep like that," Steve replied defensively, not meeting Robin's eyes.

"You guys just...fell asleep...in each other's arms?"

"Yes."

"Right." Robin said, narrowing her eyes at him but seemingly ready to drop the subject.

The two of them quickly got back into the rhythm of their typical work duties. Steve was sorting films for some time when a certain nagging thought entered his mind. Eddie's recount of his childhood was disturbing on many levels to Steve, but the part that really bothered him was the fact that Eddie's parents kicked him out. Despite his terrible home life, Eddie didn't leave to live with his uncle voluntarily. He was disowned because his parents found something about him. Steve just couldn't understand what the "something" was. Eddie seemed to avoid explaining this detail at all costs during their conversation and Steve noted this. For this reason, Steve's gut told him it had nothing to do with drugs, which Eddie would probably proudly flaunt. So if it wasn't that, what could Eddie have possibly done to get kicked out by their parents?

The front door chimes open, but whoever enters makes a beeline for an aisle that's not visible from his and Robin's position in the store. Steve is too far into his thoughts to greet the customer and decides to ask Robin the question that's been on his mind.

"Hey, Robin?"

"Hmm?"

"Why might a set of parents disown their kid. You know, hypothetically speaking," he asked.

Robin looked up from where she was sorting through recently returned tapes that they'd received that morning. Her face exhibited a puzzled expression.

"What is this about?" she questioned.

Steve shook his head and continued with his duties while they talked.

"Nothing. Like I said, purely hypothetical."

Robin frowned. "I mean there are plenty of reasons. First thing that comes to mind is what'd potentially affect me, personally."

"What?"

Steve's head swiveled in her direction, mouth open in shock.

"I mean, come on Steve," Robin started, "You're not that naive, right?"

Steve just stared straight at her. Robin was genuinely one of the sweetest, most gentle people he'd ever met in his life. The idea that she could potentially do something that would lead her own parents to kick her out onto the streets made him sick to his stomach. Frankly, Steve's parents didn't really give a damn about their son. He could do whatever he wanted and he would never lose his home, have to worry about basic necessities, or lose his parental relationship that was practically non-existent to begin with. The original reason for asking his question slipped his mind entirely at this point.

"If anything like that ever happens to you, Robin, you come straight to me. Okay? You'd stay with me."

Robin stared at him in shock, hands frozen.

"Steve-" she began.

"My parents are never home anyways. You're always welcome if you need a place to stay. There is nothing about you that could make me kick you out, okay?" he continued.

He desperately needed Robin to know that he'd always be there for her. That no matter what, their friendship was unconditional. Robin turned away from him, blinking fast.

"Thank you, Steve," she said, her voice soft and strained.

"Anytime," Steve responded with a soft smile, turning away from her to continue sorting films.

Little did Steve know that Robin wasn't the only one in the store on the brink of tears. Eddie, who had unknowingly entered the store to return the copy of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" from their movie night, had overhead the majority of their conversation. Having been a little nervous to return the film in front of Steve, considering that the film had previously triggered a panic attack for the boy, Eddie had decided to hide out in the horror aisle until he could safely return the film while Steve was safely away from the counter.

The conversation he overheard between Robin and Steve shocked Eddie to his core and made his heart flutter. He wiped away a stray tear roughly with the back of his hand. Maybe Steve was a lot different than he thought.