Steve loved his friends, anyone could tell you that, but sometimes they made him hate having a big, empty house. After a night of games & movies with his friends, he was completely drained.
“You ok, man?” Robin asked, poking his shoulder from her place on the couch. Steve was slumped in an armchair, he looked around the room, most of the kids were glued to the film or caught up in their own quiet conversations.
He wasn’t sure if it’s because he’s overwhelmed or if it’s because hes on the verge of regressing to a toddler but he couldn’t speak. He whined at her and shifted around in his seat.
“What’s wrong?” He wasn’t sure how to tell her. The lights were too bright, the tv was too loud, the room was too cold, his skin felt wrong… He was worried he was gonna have a meltdown from everything. He clumsily signed ‘overwhelmed’ in ASL, he didn’t know much be he’d been working on it with Nancy.
Steve had been trying to unmask in front of his friends but he struggled. He was diagnosed around the age of four and was immediately put into ABA. The Harringtons public image was very important to them, if Hawkins found out they had a son with autism, they’d be ruined. No one knew about him being autistic other than his parents and the little family he’s made for himself.
“You wanna head to your room?” Steve nodded and held his arms up, indicating that he wanted to be carried. She picked him up and ‘subtly’ carried him to his bedroom. She set him on the floor and grabbed a box from the back of his closet. As soon as she set him down, he began aggressively stimming. She grabbed a pacifier and a pair of ear defenders, she slipped it into his mouth & placed them over his ears before pulling a weighted blanket off the bed and draping it over him.
Robin was great at helping with meltdowns. Her, being autistic herself, seemed to always know how to help. He reached up and grabbed his favorite stuffed animal off the bed. He shook it around as he rocked while robin turnt off the overhead light, turning on a soft lamp. Robin sat next to him, choosing to play with a puzzle ball until he had either calmed down or wanted her attention. While she was waiting for that time to come, she pulled out a sippy cup and filled it with cool water.
She sat down, to her surprise, Steve crawled between her legs. He pulled her so she was sort of laying on his back, holding her arms crossed over his chest. He was now rocking slowly, eyes closed, and enjoying the weight on his body. He began making groaning & grunting sounds, the rumbling felt good in his throat & chest.
About 10 minutes later he had calmed down and put Robin back on the floor. He cuddled into her and played with the hem of her shirt. She sang him a soft lullaby and rocked him until he fell asleep. She placed him in bed, pulled the weighted blanket over his sleeping frame, and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight, little one.”
