That night everyone was getting ready at Steve's house, the carnival that the school had been hyping up was happening and despite everything that had happened they all still wanted to go and have some fun.
Steve smiled as he walked past Robin's room, Vickie was sitting on her lap trying to do Robin's eye liner with Robin squinting every time the pencil came near her. Lucas was taking different shirts out of the closet while Max lay on the bed,
"No" Max waved her hand,
"No" Max said bluntly,
"No oh my god absolutely not" Max gestured for Lucas to throw it away, "why do you own that?!"
"WH- THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SHIRTS"
Steve laughed and kept walking, he went up the stairs and saw Eddie lying down on his bed with his eyes closed. Steve closed the door and laid down next to him smiling as Eddie's eyes fluttered open and he rolled over towards Steve.
"Hey, you feeling alright?" Steve had noticed Eddie had been quiet, not making his usual comments while everyone was getting ready despite having many opportunities.
"Yeah I'm fine" Eddie smiled, he rolled his eyes when Steve raised his eyebrows unconvinced and shuffled closer towards to Eddie, "ok I'm not so fine but you don't need to be that close"
"What are you talking about? I'm not even near you"
Steve started coming closer, laughing as Eddie tried pushing him away as the two began wrestling and then falling off of the bed. Steve rolled so that when they fell at least Eddie fell on top of him, Eddie opened his eyes happy to not have landed on the floor and rolled over to look at Steve who was laying on the floorboards smiling.
"You're a dork Steve Harrington"
"Wow full name, what have I done" Steve said sarcastically, sitting up so Eddie was on his lap as Steve rested against his bedroom wall.
"I was just thinking"
"About?"
"You and me"
"Aw"
Eddie rolled his eyes, "you and me at the carnival"
"What about it? Oh, was there something specific you wanted to do? As long as I get cotton candy at some point and win a prize at one of those dart contests I'm happy"
Eddie smiled at Steve's social innocence, he didn't seem phased in the slightest, "you don't care about being seen with me? Everyone will be there, there will be no hiding it if you do-" Eddie gestured to Steve's hands which were wrapped around Eddie's waist, "-stuff like this"
"I might be shy about it, but it's not because I'm embarrassed by it or of you. I'm new to this, so I'll naturally be nervous. Also, I worry about you"
"Worry about what?"
"What happened last time someone saw us together, you were hurt, so was Vickie and of course Dustin. I don't want to be the reason for your pain"
"Steve you're not the source of my pain, and...as much as I hate to admit it, you're right. We should be cautious to make sure the kids are fine and the lesbians can vibe in peace" Eddie tried to laugh it off but had a pitiful grin,
"I don't want our relationship to be ignored though, so I have a plan for us tonight! We'll have fun, even if it's a bit more sneaky than usual" Steve had an excited expression,
Eddie couldn't hold back his smile, "well I do enjoy a good secret"
"Exactly, don't worry though I've got lots planned"
Eddie laughed as Steve leaned in, kissing his neck then lips, smiling through the kisses as he heard Eddie's voice and the joy in it. Steve never wanted to make Eddie feel uncomfortable or unworthy, and he was going to make sure he never did feel like that.
~
Everyone got out of Steve's squashed car and arrived at the carnival, the kids were looking at all the rides in amazement and already pointing to the things that they wanted to do. Steve pulled out his wallet and got the kids' attention,
"Alright twerps eyes on me! Here, each of you take some money so you can get tickets for the rides. Make sure you all eat something as well, they've got food carts around the corner. 8 o'clock we all meet back here alright? Just for a check in"
The kids nodded, thanking Steve for the money and running off into the crowd together. Steve was glad they were at least listening to him, they were all staying close to each other and especially close to Dustin.
Robin, Vickie, Eddie and Steve all made their way over to the fair games and looked at all the game prizes. Robin and Vickie went over to a balloon game to see if they could win the big prize and Steve followed Eddie over to the dart board.
"Alright Harrington, show me what you've got"
Eddie gestured for Steve to come forward and take the darts as he handed the money over to the guy next to the stall. Steve cockily moved closer and took the darts, standing in front of the board and focusing, perhaps a little too hard as Eddie put his hand in Steve's back pocket for a moment to throw him off.
"Oh that was cheating! Piss off I could've gotten a bulls eye!"
"Sure you could've" Eddie was leaning against the tent's pole laughing as Steve kept throwing, never once getting a bullseye but getting close a couple of times.
Steve finished his go and offered Eddie a turn but Eddie declined, the most Steve could've won was a lanyard with the school's logo on the inside. Steve looked at Eddie with the lanyard around his neck and Eddie clapped as Steve gave a twirl dramatically.
"Alright come on, let's go find something else"
~
The two walked over to the food trucks and chatted about random things while they tried some different foods before heading over to a cart that sold sweets, while they waited for their cotton candy sticks to finish, Robin came over with a beaming smile. The three started conversing and laughing together,
"How's your night going so far?" Eddie asked Robin,
"Yeah good! We've gone on a couple of rides together and the kids are on their way over here to get food now that they've been on some rides too. Steve I'm so happy, everything's going so much-"
Robin then looked over Steve's shoulder, her heart sunk as she watched Vickie kiss one of the jocks from the new school. The two were laughing and smiling at each other, until Vickie noticed Robin and her head lowered, turning away from her. The jock looked at Robin,
"Who's that?"
Vickie darted her eyes between the guy and Robin, she took his hand and shook her head, "she's no one lets go do something together"
Robin, Eddie and Steve watched Vickie walk away in shock. Eddie and Steve looked at each other confused, what had they just witnessed? Steve turned to Robin, she was just staring into the distance frozen where she stood.
"Rob?" Steve interlocked his fingers with Robin's, he tried smiling at her but her eyes were hazy and lost, it was the same way she looked when her parents left her alone. Steve heard Robin's voice echo in his mind from their past conversations, "I'll always be second place Steve"
"Steve..."
Robin looked at Steve but then at Eddie, she didn't want to ruin their night but at the same time she didn't want to be alone, Eddie gave her a reassuring nod and came over, holding her other hand for comfort.
"I want to go home"
Stranger Things Have Happened,
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