◤CHAPTER THIRTY◥
( burning grilled cheeses )
THE PHONE RANG at the job that she was working a shift for out of the two that she had, since Steve was currently busy with a customer, she decided to place back a movie case she had in her hand. She was reorganizing a shelf that a bunch of teens had come in and screwed up. She rushed over towards the cash wrap counter and leaned her arms on the surface as she grabbed the ringing phone, silencing the incessant sound it was making.
"Family Video, this is Luna speaking. How can I help you today?"
"Luna! Hey, it's Dustin." The curly haired teenager replied on the other line.
The ginger smiled, hearing the voice of her best friend. "Oh, Hey, Dustin. What's up?"
"Glad you asked, uhm, so we ran into a problem with the Hellfire club." He explained, "You know how Lucas has his basketball game tonight?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Well, the final campaign for the semester is tonight and he can't go. Me and Mike have been running around all day trying to find someone who could fill in. Do you think you would be interested?" He asked her.
Luna bit her lower lip, "Dustin, I don't even understand half the shit you guys tell me about that game."
"Son of a bitch." He murmured, releasing a sigh on the other end. "Okay, well can you get Steve on the phone then? I might as well try to get him to come or else Eddie might murder me and Mike."
"Speaking of Eddie, I actually ran into him today. Nice guy. Incredible hair. I mean, not Steve Harrington incredible but... close enough."
"I know, right?" Dustin responded, "Anyway, Steve?"
Luna nods, "Right, Steve. Give me one sec." She holds the phone in her grip and looks around the small store for her boyfriend, "Steve!" She calls out, and mere seconds later his head pokes out from behind a shelf.
"Yeah?" He questioned.
"Dustin wants to speak with you."
"Dustin?" He frowns as he walks around the cash wrap, "Isn't he supposed to be in class right now or some shit?"
"Don't know, babe. Here." She hands him the phone and leans her elbows back on the counter as he places the device to his ear.
"What do you want Henderson?" Steve demanded, swatting away Luna's hand that was trying to push back a stray curl infront of his face. "What? Dustin, I'm not gonna play D&D with you tonight. I don't even know how to play that weird ass game." As he speaks on the phone Luna continues to mess with his hair, making the brunette shoot her a glare which makes her stick her tongue out at her boyfriend. "A night with you, Wheeler, and Eddie "the freak" Munson? Yeah, hard pass."
As Luna was standing at the cash wrap she heard the bell of the front door ringing, she looked up and saw a group of girls walking into the store and she tapped Steve. When he glanced at her she gave him a look that said "wrap it up" and he nodded quickly.
"Sorry, man. We got customers, I'll call you back later." He quickly hung up the phone and he and Luna walked around the counter and made their way to the customers who walked into the store.
"Hi, welcome to Family Video." She smiled convincingly, "Can I help you guys find anything?"
After minutes of helping the customers who came inside, she rung them out and they were leaving the store with bags of movies in their hands. She released a heavy sigh as she dropped her head on her arms on the counter, then just seconds after she felt someone's hand ruffling through her red curls.
She didn't have to look up to know that it was Steve, she just leaned into his touch before placing her chin on her arms and gazing into his warm brown eyes. "Hey there, you doing okay?" He asked her, a look of concern washing over his features. "You look exhausted."
Yeah, that's kind of what a panic attack will do to someone.
"Wait." His eyes widened as he looked at her, "You had a panic attack, when?"
"Oh." Her lips parted open, "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
"Luna." Steve frowned, his lips curving downward as he reached for her face, pushing a strand of hair out of way. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because." Luna huffed, pushing her body off of the counter. "Because of... this." She waved her hands wildly, gesturing the boy's reaction. "You always get so worried whenever I have my attacks. And as far as you knew, I wasn't having them that much."
"So you have been having them lately?" He questioned her, his brown doe eyes getting bigger.
The ginger pursed her lips, arms crossing over her chest. "Yeah, I have, okay?
Steve ran his fingers through his hair, no doubt frustrated by this reveal. "It was during the pep rally, wasn't it? When you had to use the bathroom, you had one, and you were by yourself?"
"I wasn't on my own, I had some help. I bumped into Eddie Munson and he helped talk me down from the attack."
Steve gapes, "Eddie "the freak" Munson helped you with your panic attack?"
Luna raised her brows, a dry expression on her face. "Stop calling him "the freak" like you're still in high school. He was nice."
Steve let out a heavy sigh, "Okay, well then I guess I owe the fre--" Luna shot him a glare and he quickly corrected himself. "The guy, since he helped you. But Luna," He reached across the counter and grabbed her hands, "The next time you feel like you're starting to have an attack, tell me, okay?"
Luna shakes her head, "Steve, I can handle myself, okay? You know that." She sighs as she tangled her fingers with his, "You don't have to worry about me, I promise."
"Luna, trust me, I know that I don't have to worry about you, but I do. You know why? Because not only are you my girlfriend, you're my best friend, and I want to be there for you, no matter what." He lifts up her hands and pressed a small kiss to her knuckles, this action making the ginger girl blush profusely as his warm chocolate eyes meet her emerald green ones. "So let me be there for you, okay?"
Luna nodded slowly, her eyes watering a bit at the words that her boyfriend was saying to her. They were so considerate and so incredibly sweet and she swore her heart was going to burst out of her chest with all the overwhelming feelings she had for the amazing brunette infront of her.
"I just... I didn't want to be a burden, you know?" She sniffs softly as Steve gently caressed the skin of her knuckles with his fingers. "I wanted to believe that I was getting better." She shrugs helplessly. "With Billy and everything but... sometimes all it takes is hearing his name and I just... I just can't breathe." A tear slides down her cheek from her eyes and Steve is quick to wipe the droplet from her cheek.
"And when you feel like that, I want you to come to me, okay?" He tells her softly, "Because you are not a burden to me, and you never will be. You are important to me, Moon. I need you to know that, all right?"
Luna's lips parted, she was starring wide eyes at the beautiful boy infront of her with disbelief, because she just honestly could not believe that Steve Harrington was real.
Her tongue skinned her lower lip as a small smile graced her features, her head shook as she looked right into his eyes. "You're perfect, you know that?"
"Please." Steve snorted, "The only thing perfect about me is my hair."
Luna chuckled, then she heard the bell of the shop doors ringing. She looked over Steve's shoulder and saw a group of teens walking inside. "I would totally kiss you right now, but looks like we've got customers, Vic."
Steve grins cheekily, "To be continued, Moon?"
The ginger girl nods, a slow grin pulling across her lips. "To be continued, Vic."
⇓
After getting off of her shift and getting a ride from Steve, she walked into her home after unlocking the door with the keys. When she walked inside she smelled the scent of burnt food and strolled into the kitchen, when she made her way past the threshold she found her sister infront of the stove with her Walkman in her pocket, and her headphones over her ears.
She seemed to be making a grilled cheese sandwich, and by all the charred pieces of bread she saw in the trash, she could safely assume that her sister was indeed failing. She shook her head with a small smile on her lips as she walked towards the younger ginger, then she gently tapped her shoulder making the teen whirl around with the spatula in her grip, ready to hit her with it if she were an intruder.
Once Max saw it was just Luna she heaved out a heavy sigh, then she pulled off her headphones and placed a hand over chest where her heart was definitely racing. Luna could hear the song Kate Bush' Running Up That Hill (Deal With God) blasting through the headset, a song that she sometimes heard Max listening to everyday.
"Jesus, Luna." The youngest of the two gingers said, "You scared me."
Luna nodded, "I see that." Glancing at the sandwich on the stove, she noticed it was also starting to burn. "So, you having trouble making a grilled cheese, then?"
Max huffed, turning back to the stove. "I keep burning it, it's fucking stupid." She takes the spatula and flips the sandwich over, just to throw her head back with a groan. "Damn it!"
She simply picks up the burnt food and tossed it into the garbage with the others, then she dropped the spatula and grabbed a knife she had sitting next to half a stick of butter, but Luna takes the knife and Max glanced up at her, a questioning look swimming in her eyes.
Luna gives her a small smile, "I got this, Maxie."
Max eyes her for a few seconds, then she slowly nods and steps away from the stove, letting Luna take her place as she slices some butter and places it into the pan to melt. As she waits for that, she noticed that Max had the knob on too high.
"Now, this would explain why you keep burning them." She says, looking back momentarily at her sister at the table. "You have it on high, Maxie." She quickly turns the knob down more towards the medium option.
Max shrugged, "I figured high meant it would cook faster."
Luna snorted, "Yeah, too high. It wouldn't kill you to be a little patient."
"Whatever." The younger ginger scoffed, getting up from the kitchen table. "I don't even want it anymore."
"Max." The older sister frowned, but the younger ginger just shook her head as she left the kitchen.
"Just forget it, Luna." And within seconds she heard footsteps down the hall, and then she flinched at the sound of Max's door slamming.
Luna released a shaky sigh as she ran a hand through her hair, then when she felt tears spring to her eyes she quickly switched the knob on the stove and turned it off. Then she slid down to the floor, pulling her legs to her chest. She was really worried about everyone in her home, what with her mom smoking and drinking, two things she never did before unless it was just a glass of wine. And her sister who was pulling away and disconnecting herself from every person in her life.
The two most important people in her life were lost, grief and overwhelming stress making the both of them shells of their inner selves. She just didn't know what to do anymore, all she wanted was for them to smile, laugh and not be consumed by the pain that life was throwing at them. But she knew that nothing ever worked like that, so she told herself that all she could do was check on them both, make sure they're both okay, and provide as much support and comfort as she possibly could.
So with that reminder swimming in her self conscious, she wiped the tears that escaped her eyes and stood to her feet. Max may have been done with making grilled cheese sandwiches, but Luna was going to make sure that she finished making one and gave it to her sister. So she turned the stove back on, melted some more butter, and got to work.
Minutes later after she finished Max's perfectly golden grilled cheese, she decided to make her own considering she hadn't eaten anything since her lunchbreak. So she put the two grilled cheeses on plates and left hers on the kitchen table, she picks up Max's plate and puts it on a tray, then she makes her way to her room.
After knocking on the door loud enough for her sister to hear, she slowly creeps into the room and sees Max laying on her stomach with a book in her hands while she listened to her music. She then walks to the bed and places the tray over the book, and this makes Max look up at her. Luna gives her a nod and turns to leave the room, but before she does, Max says something that makes a soft smile take over her features.
"Thanks, Luna"
Luna looks over her shoulder, giving her sister a genuine smile. "You're welcome, Max."
After leaving her sister's room she walks into the kitchen and begins to eat her sandwich that she made for herself, it was still hot and the cheese was soft and stringy as she pulled it apart and started to eat it. Then once she finished it she washed off the empty plate of the bread crumbs and left it on the counter rack to dry.
After checking her red wrist watch she realized she had to get going soon, considering Lucas had a game that night, she still remembered the day that the Box cut haired boy came to Family Video and boasted about being on the basketball team. And as she hugged the boy in her arms she promised that she would be at every single game that he had if she wasn't on the clock.
Even if he was consistently riding the bench every game they had.
Knowing that she needed a shower, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower water. While she waited for that to get warm, she heads back to her room and begins to search through her closet for something to wear to the game.
Since it was a little nippy outside, she preferred to go with something with long sleeves and very warm fabric. After grabbing her outfit she heads out of her room and walks to the hallway bathroom where her warm shower is waiting for her.
After quickly washing her hair and cleaning her body she walked out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her frame, then she turned off the water and began to dry off. After she finished towel drying her hair she pulled on the fabrics of her bra and underwear, or well, boxer shorts. She pulled on the black and gray sweater that she picked to wear to the game that very night, then after she finished pulling on the soft material she put her legs into some overalls, and once she buttoned up the straps, she nodded at her outfit in the mirror.
Feeling satisfied with her choice.
Since she was dressed she started on her hair, she decided to just throw the red locks into a high ponytail since they were still kind of wet from her shower. When she was finished and her hair was up, she grabbed her towel from the floor and folded it on the counter, she figured she would just reuse it later.
After finishing up in the bathroom she turned off the light and made her way back to her room, making sure not to glance at the empty wall. She already had her attack that day, she did not need another one. She opened her sock drawer and pulled out some striped ones, then she pulled them onto her foot as she hopped around on the other, she did the same as she pulled the other one as well.
Then she walked over to her door where her shoes were and she picked up her black docs. As she sat down on the edge of her bed she forced the boots onto her feet, then once they were laced up she walked out of her room and made her way down the hallway. As she swings her keys on her finger, she walked through the small house and left out the front door.
The ginger girl made her way to the side of the house, and there was her bike and then her sister's. She picked up her lime green bike and hopped on, then she pedaled through the gravel and found herself on the road riding through the trailer park.
After a short bike ride, she made it to the high school just as the sun began to set. She walked her bike over to the rack with the others and kicked her stand down, then she headed towards the high school building with the large wave of students wearing the school colors as they rushed through the double doors.
Instead of following the other students to the gymnasium, she walked down the hallway to the corner that she was planning to meet Steve at. Once she made it there she paced across the hallway, her boots clicking on the linoleum beneath her.
Then after a few minutes she checked her wrist watch to see the time, then out of nowhere she was grabbed by her waist. For a mere second she thought about swiftly elbowing the person in the stomach, but then she caught the scent of salted caramel.
Steve's Harrington's cologne.
She smiled softly as she turned on her heel and wrapped her arms around the taller boy's neck, "Hi."
"Hi." Steve's arms curled around her waist, "I missed you."
Luna chuckles, "You saw me an hour and half ago, Vic."
"I know." Steve replied, "But I still missed you."
The ginger girl smiles wide, "I missed you too, Steve. Now, I believe I owe you a kiss, yeah?"
Steve grins cheekily as he leans in, "I believe you do."
She grabs ahold of his light brown hair that was turning a golden blonde at the tips, "Come here, Harrington."
The two came together in a short and passionate kiss, their lips were slotted together perfectly and both of their hearts were beating as one as they slowly pulled away.
"Okay, while that was very nice and I would love to do it again." She hears cheering coming from the gym and she looks over her shoulder for a mere second, "We should probably head to the game."
"Yeah, you're right." Steve nods, "Come on, let's go."
⇓
After Lucas' game which he fucking won after months of being the bench warmer, she immediately went on a search for the younger boy. The very moment she found him she pulled him into a warm hug, the younger boy accepted the hug as he rested his chin on her shoulder while she squealed for him happily.
"Lucas, I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, Luna." The tall boy chuckled as they pulled away. "And thank you for coming, it really means alot."
"Hey," The ginger girl gently punched his shoulder, "I told you I would be at every game if I had time, didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did." Lucas replied, glancing down bashfully.
"Good game, man." Steve told him, holding out his fist and bumping it against his when he accepted.
"Thanks, Steve." Lucas said with a small smile on his face, but Luna noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes at all. And of course being the empath and pretty much unofficial parent of the younger boy, she couldn't help but pry.
"Lucas, are you okay?" She gave him a careful look, "You seem kind of down."
The Box cut haired boy sighed heavily, his gaze lingering on the double doors of the school. "I just wish the others came tonight to see me."
Luna frowned as she looked over and saw Dustin, Mike and Erica standing around the double doors of the school, they were cheesing like they just won the lottery.
And that's when she remembers that they had a D&D campaign that same night during the game. It was a hard choice for the group of friends to make, but they all had places they needed to be that night. She just hoped it wouldn't put too bad of a dent in their friendship, especially since Mike was flying to California the next morning and they probably wouldn't get the chance to talk it out.
Luna placed her hand on Lucas' shoulder, at the action the boy's dark brown eyes laid upon her. "I'm sure they would've been there if they could've, okay?"
Lucas nods slowly, "Yeah, I know."
"Hey, don't sweat it, man." Steve tells him, "This is a big night for you, don't spend it moping, okay?"
"Yeah, Steve's right. Go have some fun tonight, okay? But let me be clear, don't do anything that I wouldn't do, you hear me, Sinclair?"
Lucas snorts, "Okay, mom. He chuckles softly, "Thanks again, guys. I'll see you around."
Luna nods, "All right, bye Lucas."
"Later, kid." Steve says, curling his arm around Luna's waist as the younger boy walks off. "So, you need a ride home? It's too dark to bike home, don't you think?
Luna nods, "Yeah, a ride would be nice."
"Okay." Steve leans down to peck her temple, "Let's go, babe."
Later that night as Luna was washing the dishes that her mom left behind, she heard the sound of continuous barking. She sighed heavily as she dropped the sponge she was using into the water filled with suds. Then soon ahe heard footsteps close behind her and she noticed her sister going into the fridge and pulling out a foil wrapped plate.
"You gonna go feed the poor puppy?"
"Yeah, I'll be right back." Max told her as she rushed out of the kitchen and exited through the front door of the trailer home.
With a heavy sigh Luna got back to work on the dishes, minutes later she finished and Max was sitting in the living room watching tv. After quickly washing off and drying her hands with a paper towel, she walked to the living room herself and sat down on the side of the sofa that her mom actually wasn't snoozing on. She pulled her legs to her chest as she watched The Archie Show on the small box tv.
At first everything was fine, but then suddenly out of nowhere the lights in their home began to flicker. Now, Luna knew that their electricity was shit now that they live in a trailer park, but this... it gave her a feeling in her gut, there was something telling her that she had been through this kind of thing before. And as she looked over at Max and saw her expression that matched hers, she realized that maybe what she was feeling wasn't total bullshit.
And then... there was a blood curdling scream. Her eyes immediately grew wide as she looked over towards her front door, she met eyes with the younger ginger who's blue eyes were also big like hers, and they both ran towards the door. After Luna quickly swung the door open they stood on the porch of their home, and as she stood there she saw from just across the way that Eddie Munson was bolting out of his place and getting into his van.
He immediately sped off in a massive hurry, and she and Max locked eyes, both of their gazes swimming with utter confusion.
Luna only had two thoughts that were racing through her mind in that moment.
A. Why did Eddie just scream bloody fucking murder? And B. What the hell happened that made him speed away like the devil himself was on his tail?
YO.
THAT IS A WRAP ON EPISODE ONE.
Incase it wasn't obvious, I'm creating a brotp between Luna and Eddie, like... they're gonna be best friends.
Now, I would've made this an Eddie fic since Steve wants to fall back in Nancy Wheeler land for god knows fucking why.
BUT,,, I don't know if Eddie is even gonna live past the rest of season four. I'm not gonna scrap an entire Steve fic for a character who dies in the finale.
Fingers crossed that Eddie DOESNT die because I LOVE HIM, but I'm not so sure considering so far almost every new character has been Vecna's target... so... we shall see I guess.
But for now, Steve is Luna's baby, okay? Now, speaking of the gorgeous boy with the heart of gold.
My heart MELTED, he is sooo supportive of Luna and the poor babe just didn't wanna be a burden to him, but Steve put his foot down and let her know that she is nowhere near that to him and that he will always be there for her no matter what.
Like I... I just love him, okay?
Also, Luna is struggling with knowing how broken her family is now after Billy and the bs with Neil and shit... so yeah, it's rough for her rn but she's strong, she'll be okay.
BUT ANYWAYYYY, thank you guys for taking the time to read this chapter, and I will see you all again very soon. Take care of yourselves and make sure to stay hydrated, later guys!
—Mic