iris. - steddie

08. a friend

tuesday march 22, 1986

steve got into his bmw, not even realizing he was still wearing his clothes from the night before and they definitely smelled like weed.

'..great, another thing i'll have to explain to robin.' he mumbled, rubbing his forehead as he pulled out of the driveway and like he promised, 15 minutes later, pulling into robin's.

he shortly honked the horn twice, not even a minute passing by before robin was out the front door and in his car.

she got in the passenger-side seat, shutting the door and glancing over at steve to see how wrecked he looked.

'you look ..' robin trailed off, hoping steve'd finish her sentence for her so she wouldn't have to.

'i know.' he said, breathing out heavily as he began driving back to his house. he didn't feel like going to school and obviously robin didn't care at this point, so they'd just find something to do at his place.

'what the hell happened? we got off work yesterday and you were m.i.a. up until a few minutes ago,' she said, eyebrows furrowed in concern as she looked at steve.

there were dark circles under his eyes and they were just slightly puffy, like he'd been crying.

'and do you smell like weed?' robin immediately added, her eyes widened.

'it's a really long story.'

'well, i have all day.' she said, a small snark to her tone. 'you did clear up my schedule when you failed to pick me up this morning.'

steve looked over to see her grinning a little, only getting an eye roll in return.

'promise you won't freak out.' he said, knowing even if she promised she probably would anyways.

he wasn't gonna lead with the fact that they kissed. robin's head might actually combust.

'so.. on monday. when eddie came in.. he didn't just want the movies for henderson.' steve said, scratching the back of his neck. 'he gave me his phone number.'

robin's jaw dropped, her face in a smile. '..really?'

'yeah, i didn't know why exactly so i called him when i got off work.' he replied, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. 'he asked if i wanted to come over and smoke, and he's so persistent.'

'i think the word you mean is annoying.' robin said jokingly, laughing a little.

'a little. whatever. anyways, i went over at like 9, maybe? we split one joint and talked, then he forced me to listen to his music and.. dance to it.' steve tried to sound annoyed but the small smile on his face said all it needed to.

'yeah right, he "forced you".' robin made air quotes mockingly, rolling her eyes.

'and i busted my ass and we were both laughing, then started fucking around and he tackled me.'

robin's jaw dropped. 'and i wasn't there to see it?? steve harrington getting tackled by eddie munson??'

'that's not the point!' he groaned, pulling into his driveway.

'well, get there faster.' she said with a teasing grin.

steve switched the car off, leaning forward as he looked out the windshield and tried his hardest not to make eye contact as he said this next part.

'i..' he said, hands starting to shake. why was he so nervous? this was robin he's talking to. she's literally the one person who he was 100% sure wouldn't be an asshole to him.

robin noticed steve's sudden change in energy, he actually seemed scared.

'hey— steve you're fine, it's just me. you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.' she said, the curiosity wasn't more important than steve's feelings.

'i— fuck.' there was no way he'd let himself cry over this shit again. he paused, taking a deep breath. 'i kissed him, robin.'

her eyebrows raised, and she was sure if they weren't attatched to her face they'd be on the roof of the car by now.

'you.. kissed eddie.' robin repeated, making sure she heard him right.

steve nodded, closing his eyes as he still refused to look over at her.

'..okay well, obviously i don't care.' robin said, gesturing to herself, the lesbian. 'but— do you like eddie? or was it just.. a kiss?'

steve didn't reply, that alone giving her all the answers she needed.

his hands were still shaky against the leathered steering wheel and his eyes looked glossy, robin definitely did not want to push him with any more questions.

'i just— i don't know what to do, robin.' steve said, a small sob escaping at the same time.

she unbuckled her seat, leaning over and pulling steve into a tight hug.

he didn't hesitate to hug her back, face pushed into the collar of her jacket.

'i left him there,' he choked out, robin running her hand comfortingly on his back.

'the look on his face when i left,' steve breathed shakily. 'i just.. i wanted to turn around but i couldn't.'

'you don't have to figure anything out now, steve.' robin said, trying her best to console him despite how bad she knew she was at it. 'i know how you feel, okay? i'm here.'

steve nodded, slowly pulling away as he wiped his face in a weak laugh. 'what the hell's wrong with me?'

'in general, or?..' she said, smiling a little as steve huffed in amusement. 'i'm kidding. now c'mon, let's watch a movie. i'm not wasting our day off.'

he nodded again, relieved robin wasn't going to make him talk about it unless he wanted to.

steve literally didn't know what he'd do without her.

.
a/n: steve finally got the comfort he needed:)