#robin and eddie coming together to maximise doting on steve

[sarcasticassian]

Steve only starts lying once all the kids have moved out of Hawkins, their families going with them, some left straight after Vecna was defeated, like Eddie and the Sinclairs and Byers-Hoppers, they immediately move out, the others finish high school and Robin and Nancy have already left to go to college, Robin tried to get Steve to come with her but he had to stay and look after Dustin, Eddie tried to get him to come with him and Wayne but again Steve said he had to stay and look after Max but now they're all gone and Steve is alone in Hawkins

Eddie and Robin still asked him to move out to live with them, they'd both ended up in California in the music business but for some reason Steve still stayed, deep down worried that the monster would return and someone would have to look after them, he tells Robin and Eddie about the final touches to the rebuilding efforts, his newly blossoming social life and the dates he goes on each week in an effort to find the one, chattering away to Eddie about this band he heard on the radio, he speaks to Eddie more than Robin, she's at work a lot or with her new friends but she'll always snatch the phone of Eddie if she comes home when Steve has called

Steve is lying about his social life though, he rarely leaves his big, cold, empty house, his parents long gone, he goes to work, watches the final pieces of rebuilding slot into place from behind the counter and he goes home, flinching at noises he thinks he hears and staring into space for long periods of time before he snaps to attention and fears something is coming for him, nothing ever does though

he manages 9 months by himself, alone in Hawkins, before he cracks, he's speaking to Eddie on the phone, clutching the plastic so hard it might crack and Eddie is jabbering on about a new band he went to see this weekend, his voice warm and happy as he blabbers on and Steve isn't saying anything, closing his eyes and letting Eddie's voice wash over him, letting it be the only thing he's aware of and as soon as he hangs up he starts to pack a suitcase, shoving in anything he cares about and its only half full when he closes it, then he gets in his car and drives to the airport, he parks the car in one corner and goes into the building, he buys a one way ticket to California and waits for his plane

when he gets to California he realises he's not sure how to get to Eddie's house and he can't afford a taxi to take him all the way there so he asks a nice looking elderly gentleman how to understand the bus network and the man offers to drive him instead, says he's off to see his niece who lives close enough so Steve hops in, tense and untrusting but desperate enough that he grabs the offer, the man is quiet and he reminds Steve of Wayne, the few times he'd met him and slowly as they crawl through LA traffic Steve relaxes, tells the guy he's going to stay with a friend who he's missed since he left and the man smiles a little, Steve asks to be dropped a couple blocks away, not wanting to cause trouble for this man and he walks the rest of the way to Eddie's, going off street names and the directions the man with the truck gave him

it starts to rain when Steve is a block away, he thought it was supposed to be sunny all the time in LA and later Eddie will tell him it usually is Steve just has shit timing, but he turns up at Eddie's door, sodden and nervous and a little pathetic looking but he knocks on the door, unsure if Eddie will even be in but he hears clattering inside and then the door is being yanked open, Eddie stares at him before he's leaping forward and wrapping Steve in his arms, Steve starts to cry immediately and Eddie ushers him inside, it all comes pouring out like the rain he's just left behind and he tells Eddie everything, how he was withering away in Hawkins but he couldn't leave, not until today or yesterday, his times have gone funny

Eddie just lets Steve curl up in his arms and holds him, lets him get snot and tears all over his shirt and doesn't mind when the wetness of Steve's jeans starts to soak into his own, Eddie just strokes his hair and tells him its gonna be okay and Steve believes him, closes his eyes and lets Eddie's voice wash over him again but this time its not the only thing he's aware of, he feels Eddie's warm hands on his thigh and in his hair, feels the firmness of Eddie's chest against his side and he can smell Eddie too and Steve lets himself drown in it all

he's content enough that hours later when Robin bangs down the door, like she could sense Steve was around, he lets her bully him out of Eddie's lap and lets her curl around him protectively and Steve screams at himself internally for not coming here before but he's safe now, he has Robin and Eddie here and he smiles into Robin's shoulder when he feels Eddie's fingers tangle with his and squeeze gently