- post-s4, steve’s hearing is just… messed up. he lip-reads without thinking about it now. in loud places (the diner, family video on a busy day), half the conversation turns into white noise and he’s too embarrassed to keep asking “what?” so he just… nods and fakes it.
- eddie figures it out first because steve starts laughing on the wrong beat at jokes or answering questions that weren’t asked. there’s this awful moment where eddie realizes, oh, no one took care of him after all that. they just sent him home.
- some people in town think steve’s ignoring them when he doesn’t respond, and it feeds straight into that “king steve is stuck up” narrative, which makes him overcompensate and be extra nice while still not actually hearing half of what’s being said.
- steve has this ringing in his ears at night that makes it hard to sleep; sometimes he puts a fan on just to drown it out. eddie hears it one night and quietly starts bringing tapes over so they can fall asleep to music instead.
- when they argue, steve really hates when eddie turns away while talking, because he loses the words and it feels like being shut out twice. eddie has to train himself to stay facing him, even when he’s pissed.
- there’s this bit where dustin talks too fast and excited and steve misses parts and smiles anyway, and later eddie repeats the story slower in the van so steve can actually have it.
- they have a nonverbal way to communicate “i love you”. steve squeezes the back of eddie’s neck twice with his thumb (like this steady grounding touch) and eddie always answers with two taps to steve’s wrist. no one else knows that specific pattern = “love you”
Steve's dad being an asshole and at some point in his life saying to Steve, "I hope one day you have a kid just like you so you can finally know the disappointment you are to me."
Years later, as Eddie and Steve watch their newborn daughter sleep in her crib the first night they bring her home, Eddie holds him lovingly and says, "I hope she grows up to be just like you, baby. She's gonna be the sweetest kid."
Eddie has no idea why Steve started to cry, but he holds his husband anyway and doesn't let go.
Getting ready to watch the sad AU in which Eddie died. So happy that in the real timeline Eddie is alive and well and in love with Steve Harrington! I love that they hang out with Wayne and lay in bed together while Eddie writes his campaign and Steve naps. So glad that that’s the real timeline and will continue to be no matter what 🙂
steve and robins friendship is so special to me because I find the fact that he instantly accepted her when she came out to him (in the mid 80s when homophobia was rampant and she didn't know how he was going to react) shows his true character. like yes we know he's had this whole journey of becoming a better person after nancy broke up with him and we know that he's matured, but robin was so vulnerable in that moment so the fact that he pushed his own feelings aside and went "okay, I like being around this girl and her company makes me a better person, so what does her liking girls matter to me?" and just moved on. like idk, I find that really wholesome in the grand scheme of things.
He isn’t anyone’s sibling and no one grew up with him. Sure, Nancy dated him but it wasn’t for long and there was a lot going on during that time.
Steve’s not really bothered by it.
He’s never been a big sharer anyways and is willing to give out information as needed. Plus, it leads to some funny moments like…
“Wait a minute,” Steve says. “You think I’ve been arrested?“
“Well…” Dustin shrugs. “Yeah.”
Steve just blinks, “Why?”
“Because you know a lot about the law,” Mike answers. “And you always tell us not to talk to the FBI guys without a lawyer.”
“Or to the cops,” Lucas adds.
“And you know a judge,” Dustin says. “The one that probably sentenced you for your crimes.”
Steve blinks again. Incredulous. Offended.
As if he’d ever get caught by the Hawkins police.
“Is this a joke?” Steve asks and gets nothing but blank stares. “My dad is a lawyer. I know about the law because my dad is a lawyer.”
steve is so frustrated he might scream. his neighbors had gotten a new dog recently and it refused to stop barking. it felt like it was never ending. he could feel the barks in his bones. they zapped through his brain and made his ears hurt.
bark. bark. bark.
he tried earplugs, loud music, headphones, covering his head with a pillow. you name it steve tried it. but none of it worked. even when watching tv or reading it was all he could focus on. bark. bark. bark. coming from outside constantly over and over.
bark. bark. bark.
it has been nice all day today which means the dog has been outside barking nonstop and steve was about to cry. it was just one of those days where everything was too much, too loud, too bright, too smelly. all he wanted to do was curl up in the dark silence that he was seemingly unable to find.
he needs to get away and before he realizes it he’s in his car driving aimlessly. even in the silence of the car steve feels like he can still hear the dog bark. even as he gets further from home the barking echos in his ears.
even though steve left without a destination in mind he still wound up parked in front of eddie’s trailer. after turning off the ignition he took some time to sit in the silence.
he hadn’t realized how long he had been sitting there until eddie came up and knocked on the window causing steve to jump, “sorry sweetheart didn’t mean to scare you. you doing okay?”
steve didn’t answer. didn’t know what to say. how could he look at his beautiful boyfriend and tell him he ran out of his house because a dog was barking too much. no of course he couldn’t say that, that felt humiliating.
so he just went with a simple, “yeah I’m fine. just got here actually.” he didn’t have the guts to tell eddie he had been sitting out here for what felt like hours.
at that eddie began to open the driver side door, reaching across steve to unbuckle him, before holding out his hand, “baby, i saw you pull up i know you’ve been sitting out here at least thirty minutes. now let’s get you inside and we can talk.”
steve allows eddie to lead him inside in silence. once they reach eddie’s room eddie is the first to speak, “okay sweetheart, can you tell me what’s going on?”
steve sat there for a moment before saying, “it’s stupid we don’t have to talk about it.”
“we don’t have to talk about it if you really don’t want to. but i want you to know i won’t think it’s stupid no matter what it is. i just want to make sure you’re okay. let’s not forget i found you sitting in the car in silence just a few minutes ago.”
steve grimaced at that. he knows he should tell eddie why he was sitting in front of his house for so long. or why he was even here in the first place. after taking a deep breath he finally says, “I’m okay. i just needed to get away from my place.”
“well that’s not stupid baby. did your parents come home?” eddie questioned gently.
god, steve never wished for his parents to come home but he knows at least it would have been a good excuse for everything. he thought about lying and saying yes, but he knows that eddie can see right through him.
steve began to speak quietly, “no nothing like that. at least that would be a good reason for me to get out of there,” he echoed his own thought from earlier. “this is so humiliating but, there was this dog outside and it would. not. stop. barking. it felt like it was barking directly into my eardrums. it made my ears and brain vibrate. and i tried everything to try and block it out. you have no idea how hard i tried to ignore it. i just can’t. my brain can only focus on that one thing and it sucks.”
he hadn’t meant to reveal that much. he just couldn’t stop talking once he started. he hadn’t even realized he began to cry while all his words bubbled out like an over-boiled pot.
“my sweetheart, i don’t think that’s a stupid. you know if anyone would understand something like that it’s me. i wasn’t kidding when i said you could tell me anything.” eddie spoke as he cupped steve’s face in his hands, gently wiping away the tears that haven’t stopped falling from steve’s beautiful brown eyes.
“you know you can always come here whenever you need.” eddie continued, “even if it’s for a reason that you think is stupid, but just know, if something is bothering you, that’s a valid enough reason to want to get away from it. please never think you have to justify yourself to me. okay, love?”
steve didn’t know what to say. he had never felt so loved, felt so seen, felt so accepted. he started to cry harder as eddie wrapped his arms around him, pulling their bodies close and cradling steve’s head as he sobbed. eddie knew that steve just needed a minute before he could reply, so he just let steve cry until he ran out of tears.
once he was breathing more evenly steve spoke, not moving his face from eddie’s neck, “thank you for not judging me eddie. i hope you know how much i love you and appreciate you. i didn’t know where else to go.”
“of course my love. i am always here if you need me no matter what. and you deserve all the patience and love in the world. even for things you might think are dumb. i love you more than anything, sweetheart. is there anything you need from me right now?” eddie spoke as he gently carded his fingers through steve’s silky locks, gently massaging his scalp in the process.
“can we just stay like this for a bit?”
“anything for you my sweetheart” eddie replied with a gently kiss to steve’s head.
steve could no longer hear the dog barking in his mind. instead eddie’s breathing took it’s place. it was nice, it was calming and it isn’t long before steve finds solace in the silence of sleep.
a/n: hey gang sorry for disappearing for like six months. here’s another autistic steve moment that i finished from my drafts.
Don’t think about Steve waking from a nightmare whilst the kids are sleeping over and Max is the only one who is woken and she tries to comfort him but she can’t see well and she’s not sure what to do, it’s Steve after all, and she ends up sort of awkwardly holding his face whilst wiping away the tears but it’s more physical comfort and affection that he’s had from family for a while. It’s just what he needs.
“why won’t you just try swimming for physical therapy eds?” steve asked gently, not wanting to push or pry.
“because i don’t want people to see me in a swimsuit?” eddie responded hoping to throw steve off his scent.
“cmon eddie, you know I’m not buying that excuse. you would walk around naked at all times if society allowed”
eddie let out a huff, “okay fine, i don’t know how to swim. okay? is that what you want to hear?”
“wait. what?”
“i can’t swim. i don’t know how. i never learned. is that clear enough?”
“but you jumped into lovers lake? you just did that without knowing how to swim?”
“it doesn’t take much skill to sink to the bottom stevie.”
steve sat there for a moment as the gears turned in his head, “then i’ll teach you!”
“huh?!” was all eddie could let out in response.
“yeah! it’s perfect! you’ll get in some exercise for PT and i get the satisfaction of teaching you!”
steve seemed so excited about it, how could eddie possibly say no to him?
“ugh. okay fine! but only because you look so cute when you beg.” eddie replied, using humor to cover up the fear that was bubbling under the surface.
a/n: i think ab steve teaching eddie to swim every time i swim laps so i needed to write it down lol
