Between one thing and another, Steve doesn’t end up seeing much of the kids for the rest of the summer, after Starcourt burns down. Their parents worry about them, want to spend time with them, and Steve is trying to recover from a hell of a lot of damage and also find a new job – it’s understandable that they mostly check in with each other via walkie talkie, rather than in person.
He does, however, promise to give Dustin, Lucas, and Mike a ride to school on their first day at Hawkins High (apparently, he is a marginally cooler choice than their parents, and less work than a bicycle). Max declines no matter how much they all wheedle, but that’s an issue for another day
An issue for today is the fact that Steve hasn’t really spent any extended amount of time with any member of the party other than Dustin in nearly two months.
He’s forgotten that teenagers grow.
“No,” is the first word out of Steve’s mouth when he gets out of the car to greet Mike and Lucas, who are both waiting in the Wheeler’s driveway. “Absolutely not.”
“What?” Mike asks, though the smirk on his face says he knows exactly what Steve is talking about. Dustin (already in the car, the first one Steve picked up) and Lucas start snickering.
Steve walks up to Mike, just to be sure he’s seeing things correctly. Back in July, he’d still had to look down to talk to him. Now, they’re nearly eye to eye.
“No,” Steve says again. “You have to cut this freaky teenage growth spurt shit out right now.”
Mike snorts. “Why am I the only one you’re yelling at? Lucas is almost as tall!”
“Because Lucas isn’t gonna be a dick about it,” Steve says. “And we all know Henderson’s got a ways to go before he catches up.”
“Hey!” Dustin tries to interject, but he is soundly ignored.
“What about Will?” Mike challenges.
“What? Why? How tall is Will?” Steve asks, then shakes his head. “Never mind, doesn’t matter, he can be as tall as he wants, he’s earned it. But you–” He points a finger at Mike that seems to be amusing him more than intimidating him. “You are sneaky. And you’re not allowed to be taller than me.”
“Because I said so. Now everybody shut up and get in the car, we’re gonna be late.”
Steve claps his hands together in the universal dad-slash-coach signal for “let’s go” and Dustin ducks back into the passenger seat while Mike and Lucas settle into the back with minimal teasing or complaining. Once Steve’s backed out of the driveway and started down the road, however, Lucas leans over to Mike and stage whispers, “Wait until he sees how much taller Erica is.”
“Erica isn’t allowed to get taller, either!” Steve snaps. “Everyone just needs to– to– stop growing.”
“Dude, you sound like my mom,” says Mike.
“You sound like all of our moms,” Dustin adds.
“Combined,” Lucas chimes in.
“Shut up. This has nothing to do being anyone’s mom, jesus,” Steve huffs. “You’re all just easier to push around when you’re small. And it was easier to fit more of you into the car, since you keep demanding free rides.”
“Mhm,” Dustin hums, sounding like he absolutely does not believe Steve. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
“You’re laughing now, but let’s see if you think it’s funny when the three of you have to cram into the back once we pick up Robin,” Steve says.
The resulting explosion of complaints puts a little smile on Steve’s face. Maybe the kids have grown, but they haven’t really grown up. Not just yet.
