Stonathan ❤️

45

NOT MINE!!

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Jonathan considers himself something of an expert by this point when it comes to dealing with the aftermath of the world almost ending.

There's a pattern to this, a routine. Usually, when he finally crashes, it's to fall asleep with his arms around Will and his mom, all three of them in his mom's bed. It's always hard to let either of them out of his sight the first few days. Even last November, when he'd only just entered into something new and beautiful with Nancy, he'd barely spoken to her for almost a week after everything was over. He'd just holed up with his family, watching feel-good movies together and playing board games and cooking for them, afraid that if he turned his back for a single second Will might disappear again, or worse.

It's always been just the three of them against the world, and that never feels more acutely true than when they're all recuperating together after yet another brush with the supernatural.

But it's different this year. Will seems more or less fine, for one thing—shaken, obviously, but somehow the least hurt out of any of them this time around. It's El who can't stop crying now that the adrenaline's faded and there's nothing to stop her feeling the full agony of her sliced-open leg and the full trauma of watching Billy die while standing between her and the Mind Flayer; it's El who's curled up in his mom's bed between his mom and Hopper. He can hear the muffled sounds of them trying to soothe her even through the closed door.

And, for another thing, Steve Harrington is standing in his living room.

Well—standing is generous. Really, Steve seems like he's barely able to keep himself upright. He's slumped against the wall, eyes half shut, head tipped back as if he might just fall asleep right there. Jonathan wouldn't blame him if he did. He doesn't really know what's happened to Steve these past few days, but from the little bit he's been able to piece together, it sounds like it was just as bad if not worse than what the rest of them were dealing with.

It had been his mom's idea to bring to Steve home with them. Jonathan gets it, he does. Steve somehow looks even worse now than he did last year after getting his face smashed in by Billy Hargrove. Jonathan doesn't need to be a paramedic to know that he's definitely got a concussion, or a doctor to know that he really shouldn't be home alone in that state, and apparently—Steve had admitted this only under a combination of his mom's gentle prodding and Hopper's fierce stare—his parents aren't in town. So, yeah, Jonathan gets it.

Still. Doesn't mean he's happy about it.

"So, uh." He shifts his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. "You wanna...borrow some clothes to change into, or something?"

It's not that he hates Steve anymore. He seems like a nice enough guy—certainly he's changed a lot since sophomore year, if the kids' regard for him is anything to go by. It's more just that he doesn't really know Steve except as his current girlfriend's ex-boyfriend and the guy he occasionally fights monsters with. That's not much basis for a friendship, he doesn't think.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Steve pushes himself upright, then sways so dramatically that Jonathan instinctively steps forward as if to catch him. He steadies himself on his own, though, bracing himself with one hand against the wall. He smirks slightly, and Jonathan can't tell if it's meant to be self-deprecating or if he's being made fun of for his concern. "Lead the way."

Jonathan shows him down the hall to his bedroom, staying close beside him to catch him if necessary. He's worried for Steve, sure, he's a big enough person to admit that—what kind of psychopath wouldn't be worried about someone who's just been held captive by a foreign military?—but the dominant emotion he feels right now is a vague sense of resentment. He should be with Will right now, not Steve. Will had insisted he was fine, that he would be perfectly okay going to bed on his own while their mom and Hopper took care of El and Jonathan got Steve settled, but still. He doesn't think it's unreasonable that he'd rather be watching over his little brother than guiding a wobbly Steve Harrington to his bedroom.