Beyond the Battle: Action & Consequence (Steddie, Stranger Things)

Chapter 44: Panic Over?

How he got through breakfast Steve would never know, especially after Robin appeared and kept giving him looks. Clearly, he was not doing as well as he thought, but it wasn't like he could just ditch when there were guests in the house.

However, the moment breakfast was done, Steve hightailed it to his room with Robin and Eddie close behind. He sat on the bed, doing his best not to overthink himself into a hole.

"Okay, what am I missing?" Robin asked the moment his door was closed.

"I think my mom suspects about me and Eddie," Steve blurted out as Eddie came and sat next to him.

"Holy crap," Robin said, sitting down on his other side. "Are you okay? What did she say? Are you sure?"

"Steve, tell me if I'm reading this wrong, but I think she was trying to be supportive," Eddie added.

Steve nodded.

"Well, that's good," Robin said, "that's great ... um ... isn't it?"

"Yeah," he replied, sounding kind of unsure.

It wasn't that he didn't want his mum knowing and being okay with it, it was just all the doubts crowding in the back of his head that were doing a number on him. What if they were wrong? What if his mom had just been talking and didn't have a clue about him and Eddie? Too many what ifs.

"I think," he added.

Robin took his hand.

"Tell me everything," she said.

"Turns out I have lesbian aunts," he said, because it was the first thing that leapt into his head.

Robin's eyes went big and round and for a moment she looked like she might be having a heart attack.

"Well not actual aunts, but I've always called them Aunt Marie and Auntie Annie," he explained. "God I am so stupid. I never ... not even after you came out to me ... it never occurred to me."

"Stevie," Eddie said, since Robin still seemed to be processing, "when we grow up believing something, we don't always question it. Your mom literally said, they pretend to just be friends to a lot of people. When did you last see them?"

"About six years ago, I think," he replied. "They came to visit. They stayed in separate rooms."

"Yeah, well this is Indiana," Robin said. "Safest for them, safest for you."

"I hate they thought they had to hide it from me," he said quietly, "and they were probably right."

"No, stop right there," Robin told him firmly. "I came out to you, and you were nothing but sweet."

"Yeah, but that was after the Upside Down and Russians, that was after King Steve," he pointed out.

"And that didn't all just give you a personality transplant," Robin insisted. "Maybe it made you think and reassess a few things, but you didn't just become a different person. It would probably have shocked your socks off, but you wouldn't have done anything bad."

Her faith in him was gratifying, but he wasn't sure he completely believed her. He might not have done anything deliberately, but he'd been a stupid kid. Getting drunk and blurting it all out to Tommy and Carol being one distinct possibility.

"She's right," Eddie said from his other side. "You were a bit of a dick at times, but you were never outright mean. If you had been an asshole like Billy Hargrove, I never could have fallen for you."

"So, back to the point, you have lesbian kind-of-aunts and you mom brought them up at breakfast?" Robin asked.

Steve nodded and began to explain the whole backstory of breakups and girlfriends and falling in love, with Eddie adding in the odd comment.