fireworks - steve harrington

2.01

DINNER WITH THE DEAD

MENTIONED SUICIDE AND SUICIDE METHOD

Steve looked at Ren expectantly for a moment before sighing and resting his head on the wheel of his car. "It's crap, I know."

"No, it's not crap."

"It's not good."

"It's not bad either. It just needs some reorganising." Steve sighed loudly. "So, in the first paragraph, you used the basketball game versus Northern as a metaphor for your life, which is great. But then, around here," Ren motioned to another section on the paper, "you start talking about your grandpa's experiences in the war. And I don't really see how they're connected."

"It connects because, you know, we both won. Do you think I should start from scratch?"

"No. I mean, when's the deadline?"

"It's tomorrow for early application. Can you come and help me tonight?"

"We have dinner tonight. We already cancelled last week."

Steve nodded slowly. "Right."

"You don't have to go. It'll be really awkward with Nancy there too."

"No, it'll be awkward either way. Neither of us have spoken to her since that thing fell out of her ceiling. I still don't know what it was."

"You say that every time we talk about it."

"I know."

"It really is okay. College is more important. Besides, you didn't know them that well anyway. We never really hung out with their parents that much."

"But you did. I'm going. I'll figure this out later." He took the paper from Ren, crumpled it up, and threw it in the backseat of his car. "We still need to figure out what college you're going to."

"Yeah, but that's not important. I might just stick around here."

"Well, if you're sticking around, then so am I." Steve leaned over and kissed Ren once before they stepped out of the car.

Living in Indiana in 1984 was not the best for two gay guys in a relationship. Absolutely no one knew about it, and they intended to keep it that way. When they thought Nancy had figured it out, they agreed that Steve would make out with a girl in front of her to throw her off the trail. It worked. But it made Ren insanely jealous.

They parted ways at the school's entrance and carried on with their first few classes of the day without seeming lovesick about not being with each other, something they had almost perfected after being a secret for so long. But occasionally they couldn't take it, so one of them would slip a note in the other's locker, suggesting a meet-up spot to make out in. That day it was Steve who wrote the note, which read, "Stay out here after the bell rings. x."

Seconds after the last person in the hall walked into a classroom, Steve rounded the corner and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. They slipped in between two sets of lockers, one of which Steve pressed Ren up against. They spent a good four minutes just standing there kissing until Ren tapped on Steve's shoulder, their signal for "I have to go to class." Steve huffed and gave Ren one last kiss and a mild slap on the ass before he walked as casually as possible back to his classroom.

~•~

"I was gonna make that baked ziti you guys like so much, but I just forgot about the time, and before you know it, 'Oh my god, it's five o'clock.'"

Ren spoke up first. "It's fine, Mrs. Holland."

"It's great," Nancy muttered.

"Right," Steve said through a mouthful of chicken. "I love KFC."

Nancy cleared her throat. "So, I noticed a 'For Sale' sign out in your yard. Is that the neighbours' or--"

"You wanna tell them?" Marsha Holland asked her husband.

"Go ahead."

"We hired a man named Murray Bauman. Have you kids heard of him?" Everyone shook their heads. "He was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times."

Was?

Mr. Holland passed a business card across the table. "He's pretty well known."

"Anyway, he's freelance now, and he agreed to take the case."

"That's great," Steve said, clearly much more enthusiastic than the two who had known Barb and Tammy their whole lives.

Ren blinked. "What does that mean?"

Mr. Holland answered him, "It means he's gonna do what the Hawkins police haven't been able to do. Means we have a real detective on the case."

"It means, we're going to find our Barb," Mrs. Holland finished.

"If anyone can find her, it's this man. He already has leads. By god, he's worth every last penny."

Nancy spoke again. "Is that why you're selling the house?"

"Don't you worry about us. We're fine. More than fine. For the first time in a long time, we're hopeful."

Nancy abruptly stood up from the table. "Excuse me for a moment. I'll be right back."

Ren stared down at his plate with his hands in his lap, not bothering to eat. He wanted so bad to tell the Hollands the truth, that Barb was dead. They knew that Tammy was. After all, they'd been the ones to find her hanging from the fan.

He was a little startled when Steve's hand inched over to his under the table. He intertwined their fingers as subtly as he could and squeezed once. Steve could see the pain in Ren's face. His two best friends had died weeks apart, and he never got to say goodbye to them. So Steve did little things like that. He would do anything to reassure his boyfriend that everything was okay, that the worst of it was over. But he wasn't sure that it was.

They continued the dinner, trying to pretend like things were okay. Eventually, Nancy came back. And eventually, Ren started eating again. And Steve still kept Ren's hand in his. Through everything, he was with him.