iris. - steddie

05. number

monday march 21, 1986
[tw: homophobia]

the entire day had felt like a drag, maybe it had just been from the long weekend the day before.

all steve knew though is he wanted to get home.

but, he still had one class period left and then he had to wait for robin and drive the both of them to work.

the bell rang, echoing through the hallways and he immediately took the chance to head to the bathroom.

steve dropped his bag onto the floor beside the sink with a yawn, switching the water on and splashing his face in a sad attempt to wake himself up.

'shit,' a voice cursed quietly from one of the back stalls.

steve immediately turned around in confusion, he hadn't seen anyone come in before he did.

'hello??' he said, looking down and seeing two white sneakers in the stall in the very back.

'..harrington?' the voice replied, steve getting even more confused by the moment.

'..eddie?' he said, hoping he was right and he wasn't just calling some random dude in the bathroom eddie's name. 'what're you—'

the stall door opened, eddie pushing a black sharpie into his back pocket as he walked out and looked at steve.

'you look like shit,' eddie said quickly with a joking grin, although steve could tell something was off.

'thanks,' he replied sarcastically, the longer-haired one beginning to leave.

'wait, eddie-' steve said, him turning around. 'are you okay?'

eddie hesitated a little, eyes locked on steve's. 'yeah, i'm fine harrington. thanks.' he said, shutting the door behind him.

steve knew that wasn't normal. he'd only known eddie for 3 days and in that small period of time he'd managed to talk his ear off.

he picked up his bag, walking over to the stall eddie was in. he slowly looked around, it was just covered in normal graffiti and the classic dick drawn every few signatures.

but out of the corner of his eye, he caught eddie's name.

steve looked over, a heavy breath he didn't even know he was holding leaving his body.

'eddie munson, the queer freak of hawkins'

was written in red marker on the stall door, a faint scribbling of black sharpie over the word 'queer'.

fuck. eddie was trying to scribble it out.

steve was frozen for a second, just staring at the harsh slur written beside eddie's name. it made him sick.

he slowly shut the stall door, putting his bag down on the ground and digging through it until he found a pen.

steve scratched over the word in ink, making sure it wasn't visible before leaving the stall.

if that felt like a rock in his stomach reading it, he couldn't even imagine how eddie felt.

the bell rang loudly again, steve getting snapped out of it by the annoying sound.

but he reluctantly headed to calculus, hoping the class would pass by faster than he thought.

a painstaking hour went by, and steve was finally out. he waited outside for robin, who he knew was probably talking to vickie, and drove the two of them to family video yet again to work.

'i'm telling you steve, she doesn't like girls! i mean, i even gave her my best 'i know i'm hopeless but i still think you're pretty' look i can get and she still asked if i had gotten a boyfriend yet!' robin complained, dropping her hands by her sides as steve unlocked the doors and walked into the store.

steve hadn't said anything yet, he had just been flicking on the lights in the front and around the displays.

'why're you not talking? or telling me to shut up? it's weirding me out,' robin looked at steve in concern, hopping up and sitting in her normal spot on the counter.

'i'm just.. thinking, okay?' steve said, walking over to where she was as he rubbed his eyes.

'think aloud. the steve harrington silent treatment is harsh and i'm still not sure why i deserve it,' she looked at him, eyebrows raised expectantly.

'do you think..' steve paused, not knowing exactly how to construct this sentence. 'eddie's.. gay?'

robin coughed loudly, eyebrows raising more at steve.

'wh- why? what happened?' she quickly asked, steve had definitely gotten her attention now.

'he was acting off earlier, like weird and distant. he said he was fine when i asked, but..' steve trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

'but.. what?' robin's eyebrows furrowed at him.

'someone had called him a.. pretty rough slur in some writing in the bathroom, and he had been trying to mark it out when i walked in.'

'oh.' robin's face dropped understandingly, her eyes still on steve's worried expression. 'i mean, if you—'

she got cut off as the door jingled, both of them turning around in surprise to see eddie walk in.

robin immediately kicked steve in the leg, giving him a look before going back into the storage room.

'ow-' he complained, turning back around as eddie looked across the empty store.

'what's henderson's favorite movie?' eddie asked, looking at steve.

'uh.. probably neverending story or back to the future if i had to guess, why?' steve said in confusion.

'the shithead took my walkman and i'm gonna bribe him with.. that.' eddie shrugged, leaning against the counter.

steve laughed a little, walking back and searching the fantasy titles to grab the two movies.

'if you're trying to bribe him i'd get some 3 musketeers bars too, the kid loves those things.' he said, walking back over to him.

eddie rolled his eyes sarcastically, taking the 2 movies out of steve's hand and putting a $10 down on the counter before rushing out of the store.

'thanks harrington!' he yelled as he left, eddie hopping in his car and leaving before steve could even say anything.

he huffed in amusement, going to grab the money when a small piece of paper fell out.

steve picked it up, unfolding it to see a phone number scrawled out in messy handwriting.

xxx-xxx-xxxx
—e.m.