Four Times Someone Asked Steve to Stay. One Time They Stayed for Steve.

Dustin Henderson

The second that Steve caught sight of the way that Dustin trudged his way out of the arcade he knew that it wasn't going to be a fun drive back to the Henderson house.

Steve frowned instinctively as he watched Dustin wave goodbye to some of the other kids half-heartedly before he turned to the car. Worry immediately began forming in Steve's chest, painful like glass shards, as he tried to think about what could have upset the kid so much in the first place that he didn't think to share it with Steve of all people.

When Dustin opened the door, Steve made sure that he had ABBA playing since he knew that the kid loved to complain obnoxiously about it and mock his music taste- Dustin didn't even look annoyed.

Shit. This was serious.

-

The short drive to Dustin's was done in relative silence once Steve gave up on pushing the kid to talk, though that didn't stop him from sneaking anxious looks periodically.

He pulled up in front of the house and turned to give Dustin his full attention when he remained in the passenger side with his seatbelt still firmly clicked into place and his fingers tapping restlessly against his knee, a clear and blaring sign that he was nervous or stressed about something. Steve for the life of him couldn't figure out what and he fought down his frustration. "Dude. We're here."

Steve narrowed his eyes when Dustin didn't even so much as break his intense stare-down with the dashboard as if it had personally offended him.

Huffing out a breath, Steve twisted further round in his seat until his arm rested on the top of the steering wheel and his entire body was angled to Dustin. He tried to catch his eyes but Dustin looked anywhere but at him- Steve tried not to let that action sting as much as it did. "What's going on with you man? First you don't make some snarky comment about me being late because I was doing my hair or whatever dumb shit you usually say and then you don't rip me a new one for playing Waterloo like four times in a row- four times, Dustin. What the hell is going on with you-"

"Do you not like me anymore?"

When Dustin's eyes finally, finally locked onto Steve's he felt the air get knocked out from his lungs like he'd been punched, cutting him off mid-sentence. A look of shock plastered itself across Steve's face and his mouth hung open- he just stared uncomprehendingly at the teen because where the hell had that come from? He didn't like seeing the kid look so upset. Apparently, he had been silent for too long because Dustin started scrambling to unbuckle his seatbelt, his cheeks now a blazing red.

"Forget it. Doesn't even matter-"

"Dustin-"

"- I'm just going to go-"

"Dustin! Stop for a second alright?!" Steve shouted, panic creeping into his voice as he brushed a hand through his hair for a second reprieve. Dustin kept his hand rested on the handle but he didn't open the door. His chest heaved and he looked like he was a breath away from bolting it into his house as fast as he could. Then he looked back up at Steve with impossibly wide eyes that looked too shiny and Steve's chest tightened at the sight and the thought of Dustin crying in his car.

"Where's this even coming from?"

For a long moment, Dustin just stared harder before his hands dropped back to his lap.

"I just... we haven't hung out lately. The two of us." Steve felt relief wash over him; he could fix this.

"Dustin. Listen buddy. You're still one of my gremlins alright? Just because over the past few weeks we've both been busy with work and school and DnD campaigns, it doesn't mean I like you any less, man. You think I drive any of the other munchkin's home on my day off because I don't like them?" Dustin had the decency to at least look a little sheepish at not considering all of the facts like his usual rational self would. He'd just been too blindsided by the idea of Steve no longer wanting to be his friend. "Sometimes people get busy but that doesn't mean I want to be selling videos with Keith breathing down my neck all day. I'd much rather spend it with my best friend."

At the admission, Dustin practically lit up like a Christmas tree. "I'm your best friend?"

Steve smiled despite his best efforts at keeping it locked away at the eager reaction. "Yeah. You're like this weird hybrid of my annoying little brother and my know-it-all best friend rolled into one whole nugget of a person." Steve held his breath nervously at the familial term but it was soon knocked out of him when Dustin threw himself into his arms and almost elbowed his ribs as he did.

He patted Dustin's back and made sure to ruffle the kids' hair when he eventually pulled away.

"We good?" Steve questioned, watching Dustin closely in case he needed to do another impromptu speech to solidify his point, but Dustin only grinned and nodded, vibrating in the seat next to him and very clearly riding the high of having all of his worries pushed aside.

"Yeah, yeah, we're good." He assured, still grinning wide from ear to ear. "Will you stay? You can sleep over! I have ghostbusters on video-"

"- which is overdue by the way-"

"- and I know Robin failed at getting you to watch it but you have to or else I can't be seen with you in public anymore Steve because it's awesome-"

"- me? You're the embarrassing one!"

"What? No way! You're so uncultured it physically hurts me-"

"You suck, Henderson." Steve said simply, despite the fact that he was already getting out of the car and heading towards the house. Dustin excitedly ran ahead of him, complaining loudly for the whole street to hear about Steve's lack of knowledge on just about every film that Dustin and the Party absolutely adored and declared to be a rite of passage.

Steve chuckled to himself and smiled as he closed the door behind them. They'd be okay.