80s gays ☆ steve harrington ☆

results and archery sessions

chapter tweleve
"results and archery sessions"
stranger things

Theodore got into the car with Steve, and both of them seemed nervous about what they were going to do.

"This is gonna go hella wrong." Steve said, starting the car. "I totally failed." he said as they set off down the road.

"Steve," Theodore said, stern enough to grab his attention. "In the long run, it won't matter." He shrugged his shoulders.

"It's just - I got rejected from so many places, if I end up getting rejected from Tech, then I'm screwed." Steve made a huffing noise. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Theodore said. "We'll just walk in, get the envelopes with them in and walk the fuck back out. Share our results, and either commiserations or celebrations, we can go out to eat. I'll pay for gas and food."

It somehow got a smile out of Steve. "Trying to ask me out?" he teased

"Only if you want it, sweetcheeks." Theodore said, tone light and joking to match Steve's, hoping to hell that his face wasn't a blushing mess. He glanced over at Steve, amused smile on his face.

"Alright, fair deal." Theodore was surprised when Steve said it with more seriousness than he expected, and it felt like his heart stopped when Steve reached over and took hold of his hand. The whole thing didn't last more than a few seconds, but Theodore couldn't stop thinking about how warm Steve's hand had been in comparison to his.

But Steve let go, put his hand back on the steering wheel. It was like nothing had happened.

Theodore could feel the way his hand was tingling from the contact. God, he was so screwed; he still felt those damn feelings for Steve, and they weren't going away. He had to do something about it, but he was too scared.

There were other things on Theodore's mind. After Robin had called his mom that night to pick him up, he couldn't stop thinking about what Hopper had told him. Could Hawkins Lab have taken Abel? The chances of it happening seemed astronomically small, because why would they choose a little boy dying in a car crash?

After they'd gotten home, Mary had asked him what had happened, and Theodore didn't have it in him to lie to her, so he'd told her the truth, how Billy had attacked him, how Hopper had a mad thought he'd not thought to keep to himself. It had broken his heart to see her break in the way he had; unable to understand what Hopper had cooked up. They'd lost Abel, it had been years. To think that he was still alive elsewhere, experimented on, hurt or tortured ... it felt like it would drive them both to insanity just thinking about it.

Mary had phoned Hopper, and she'd started screaming and shouting down the line, not allowing him to get a single word in.

Theodore reckoned that Steve had been keeping an eye out; he appeared at their door not long after their return, midway through Mary shouting bloody murder into the receiver. Theodore had suggested that maybe it wasn't a good time for Steve to be there. He still offered to be a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on. He just wanted to know that Theodore had been OK; Mary had been concerned that Theodore had vanished.