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As a kid Steve Harrington never fully understood the concept of hearing your soulmate’s thoughts, did they know you were hearing them? How do you figure out who the person is? How close does that person have to be for you to hear them? He always wondered about the physics behind it, and his parents never really had answers for him, or they would give him some bullshit of an answer to get him out of their face. The whole concept though, Steve just never would understand.
By the end of his junior year in high school, more than half of his friends had started hearing their soulmate, but these are the type of people Steve knows are going to spend their whole life in Hawkins and never leave so of course their soulmates will be here, they’ve all grown up with them. But deep down Steve can’t help but feel envious that they already know who they’re going to marry and he has not heard any thing from his soulmate, Steve tries to think maybe he’ll meet his person in college.
”I swear if you guys could hear how dirty this girl is, you would literally cum in your pants,” Steve’s friend, Ben yells out at his lunch table.
”How do you know they’re a girl?” Steve questions jokingly but truthfully he did want to know if a soulmate’s thoughts sounded like the person’s real voice.
”Fuck you Harrington, no guy would sound like this chick,” He shoves Steve playfully as he gets up to throw away his lunch.
”How are you gonna figure out who it is? Are you just waiting for her to think her name in her head or what?” Tommy piped up with his arm wrapped around Carol.
”Well that’s the best option, I can’t tell her to say her name, I’ve tried to before, by thinking ‘say your name’ but it was in the middle of the hallway and no girl would ever just randomly yell out their name in a crowded hallway and it’s like whenever it seems like she’s about to say her name, we lose contact, I think there’s some type of rules to this shit, guessing the universe wants to make you work for finding your soulmate, I mean I could probably wait until I hear her thinking of going to do something and wait for the girl that does that, I guess those are my two best options,” Ben replies as he looks around the cafeteria scanning the room.
”Well that just seems difficult as hell man, me and Carol had it easy,” Tommy smugly smirks as he kisses Carol on her neck, her eyes falling closed with a smile settling on her face.
Steve rolls his eyes at the intimate couple, “You both literally said in your heads ‘I need to go smoke’ and went to the bathroom at the same time somehow you guys also thought “he’s cute” and “she’s cute” as you passed each other on the way to the bathroom so yeah, we can see why it was easy for you guys,”
“We were so synced up because we’re soulmates Harrington, don’t hate the player, hate the game,” Tommy grins as Carol smirks at Steve. “Besides, I bet you’ll meet your girl any time soon, it’s probably Sophia, I see the way you look at her whenever I bring her over here,” Carol crosses her arms as if she can read Steve like a book.
”If it is her, then she is the most silent thinker in the world,” Steve slumps as he pokes at his food.
”You’ll meet her soon Harrington, don’t fret,”
—
Over the summer, Ben finds out the girl is Rachel Mcalister, a girl that he literally had all classes with except for gym and Algebra (Steve wonders how stupid he could be if he had just narrowed it down to the one person that was in all of his classes except for two) simultaneously they both wanted to go the same ice cream shop and both wanted the same order and once saying their order out loud, well in detail Ben had described that it was like ‘his heart fucking exploded’. For Steve, he worked part time in his dad’s office and spent most of his summer swimming in his pool and watching TV. He still didn’t find his soulmate.
It’s the first day of school and Steve’s feeling jittery, like someone poured coffee in everything he ate and drank today, Steve can’t quite explain the feeling, it’s like he’s vibrating but he doesn’t know what for, he just decides to blame it on nerves because it’s the first day.
He does his usual routine when he arrives at school, parking his car and walking over to where Tommy, Carol, Ben and Rachel are huddled around Ben’s car. Steve’s shocked at how attached at the hip Ben and Rachel are.
“Steve! There’s like a literal line of new people in the office this year, maybe this year is your year,” Tommy pats Steve on the back as Steve gives an uncomfortable smile.
”Maybe,”
And for the remaining twenty minutes, Steve stands uncomfortably between the two couples, and for the first time since the summer Steve truly wishes he was back at his father’s job where there were 40-60 year olds who had still not found their soulmate or their soulmate passed.
—
He’s standing in the crowded hallway at his locker when it happens, it’s sudden and Steve’s head feels like it spins for a second.
‘Nice ass,’
Steve thought it had been someone that was trying to be funny and said in his ear in passing but he would’ve saw the person and would’ve felt their breath against his ear.
The voice is also a guy’s voice, it’s not as loud as Steve always thought it would be, the voice is at a lower volume and the voice is not high enough to be a girl but low enough that Steve can detect his soulmate is a guy. It’s new and different, Steve’s only found out about one other guy named Brian who came out and said that his soulmate was a guy who people ultimately found out was a high school graduate named Reed, there were people that accepted the relationship because after all you can’t pick who you fall in love with, but there were more people who were disgusted with the relationship and Brian was metaphorically ran out of town. So, having a guy as Steve’s soulmate was new, different and scary. He decides to keep the news of his soulmate to himself.
By the time lunch rolls around, Steve quickly realizes that his soulmate talks a lot when deciding what they want to eat for lunch, it’s actually quite amusing.
’Should I have the fries or pasta, shit this is hard, it all looks like ten fucking days old, these people eat this?’
Steve decides maybe it wouldn’t hurt to help the guy choose, he doesn’t really know how this soulmate thing truly works because it almost seems like he’s able to hear certain thoughts, and he wonder if this guy will even hear him right now.
’I would choose the pasta, the fries are too greasy,’
and just like that, it’s almost a phone disconnecting because then Steve’s head goes completely silent as if his head is on mute and he’s left alone with his thoughts. Steve quickly looks around at the lunch line trying to see who is getting pasta, he tries to over look the faces he’s known since middle school but he forgets that their are also new freshmen, and over all new people in every grade and unfortunately for a Steve, he remembers that the people of Hawkins love pasta.
Steve had never fully understood what his friends and family members meant when they said that once you hear your soulmate, your body will never be the same. Now he understands what they mean, with his soulmate’s voice, his head almost sounded like only him and his soulmate were in their own bubble, when his soulmate spoke his voice almost echoed and when Steve talked back it was like the words were coming from a different circuit in his head that was connected through every limb and organ on his body, it left him feeling tingly and like he was floating on top of the world.
It’s the last period in gym when he hears the voice again.
’he needs to fucking move’
It’s almost as if their minds sync up because Steve immediately knows who he’s talking about, there’s a freshmen standing right near the goal and coach doesn’t let them throw the basketball if anyone could get hurt. This is why Steve hates having people from study hall come to the gym, they linger and get in the way.
Immediately Steve dribbles the ball near where the freshmen is standing, talking to a girl that he’s obviously trying to impress.
“Dude, you gotta move, thanks,” Steve motions for the boy to move away from the goal and rolls his eyes at the glare the freshmen sends his way.
’Thanks pretty boy’
Steve can’t help but blush at the nickname, it’s almost mockingly but Steve knows his soulmate doesn’t know it’s him and he’s okay with that.
The rest of gym goes by fairly well, except for the fact that there are juniors in his gym and there’s this one junior who annoys the shit out of Steve, and Steve can’t tell if he hates him becuase the guy is on a whole other level than Steve and he’s younger than him or if he actually just hates him because the guy is an arrogant asshole. He shoves Steve a ton and never even fucking apologizes, he just gives this annoying smirk and fixes his long blonde hair. Steve hates him.
—
It has been two whole weeks and Steve still can’t figure out who his soulmate is, and it’s making him feel like a complete and utter idiot. He thought Ben was dumb because it took him until the summer to figure out who his soulmate was but now he feels dumb. All he knows is that this guy thinks about asses, food and his father a lot. For his dad, it mostly sounds like hatred while when he thinks about food and asses, he’s in love with them and Steve does not know how to balance those two opposite topics. Steve also knows that his soulmate is in his gym, he obviously plays basketball with him and the juniors and during lunch his soulmate must sit close enough for him to hear his thoughts. Steve kinda likes his thoughts during lunch, it seems to be the time when he actually sits down and eats while thinking of either super deep and meaningful topics in life or super funny shit, there is no in between, Steve finds out.
It’s lunch time and Steve’s walking to his table when he hears the voice speak up.
‘God that ass is the only thing good in this shithole.’
Steve does not know why he feels his heart sink at the thought of his soulmate looking at another person’s ass but he hasn’t even met him yet and Steve has had his fair share of glancing at asses and tits.
’I really don’t feel like dealing with this today, a fucking 70? God he’s gonna kill me today’
Steve wonders what that means but then his mind goes completely silent and he knows the connection is cut off and now he’s worriedly looking around for someone he doesn’t even know. Tommy is the one that notices Steve looking unusual as he walks up to their lunch table, he places a hand on Steve’s shoulder to get his attention.
”What’s up Harrington? Looking for your balls?” Tommy laughs as him and Carol sit across from Steve while Ben and Rachel sit next to him.
“Screw off Tommy,” Steve mutters as he begins to pick at his food
”What’s got your little panties in a twist, you still looking for your soulmate? You’ll hear her when you hear her Steve, you might be like Ben and meet her in the summer, even though you had like every class with her,” Tommy says sarcastically as Rachel and Ben sick up their middle fingers in sync.
It kind of disgusted Steve how bonded they were to each other, it kinda of disgusted Steve becuase he wanted that, and it kind of disgusted Steve even more becuase even if he did find his soulmate he’s not sure if he would even be able to do anything with his soulmate becuase he’s a fucking guy living in an era where you can’t even compliment another guy without being labeled a ‘queer’.
”Why do you say ‘her’, we’re never allowed to pick who we fall in love with so what if my soulmate is a guy and he’s all the way across the world or something, it’s just like you never know and you keep trying to give me some bullshit hope of me finding a perfect girl,” Steve doesn’t mean to practically be yelling at Tommy but he’s tired of his friend pitying him and by the end of his speech, everyone at the table stares at him in shock as Tommy’s nose flares in anger.
”What the fuck is up with you Harrington? I’m just trying to help you becuase you’re the only fucking one without a soulmate, you must be pretty fucking lonely dude, so calm the fuck down,” Tommy buffs as he pushes away from the table, nudging Steve in the chest and grabs Carol’s hand as he stomps away with her following along.
Steve doesn’t even bother to look after Tommy, he just numbly plays with his food as there’s still a silence at the table.
Rachel is the first one to speak up and Steve’s never had a full conversation with her so he doesn’t know why she’s talking to him as if their friends, and he wants to ignore her so bad because who the hell does she think she is? But then he thinks his anger is getting the best of him so listens to the words the girl calmly says.
”I know Tommy probably seems like he keeps mentioning the soulmate thing but I think he just doesn’t want you to think anyone’s rubbing it in your face, just know that when the time comes, you have Ben and I supporting you no matter who it is, I don’t know about Tommy or Carol but if Tommy cares so much about you finding your soulmate, he shouldn’t care about who the person is as long as they make you happy, because you’re our friend, and friends should always be there for one another,” Steve doesn’t have to look up to know the girl is saying it with honesty shining through her bright green eyes.
He doesn’t have to look up to know that Rachel knows that he has found his soulmate and his soulmate is obviously not a girl, he doesn’t have to look up to know that Rachel Mcalister, girlfriend of his closest friend, is a friend of his now and he can trust that she won’t tell his secret. When Ben turns away he sends a silent thank you to her in just one glance and she simply smiles while continuing to eat lunch.
He might not lose all hope in his relationship because his soulmate is a boy.
—
It’s two days after the lunch incident and Tommy and Steve make up during gym as they play basketball, that day particularly his soulmate is thinking a lot about something being discovered in his room, he sounds nervous and Steve wants to know what exactly his soulmate would be scared about someone finding because in all honesty his soulmate sounded like a goddamn badass, what could he possibly fear?
Also, On this day in particular, the junior with the long blonde hair is particularly annoying, Steve doesn’t even know this kid’s name and all the guy seems to want to do is hit and bump Steve any chance he gets, he’s only said a few words to the boy and that’s when they were arguing about who scored the shot in the basket first. It truly sucks that this guy is such an asshole because he’s actually hot as fuck and if Steve didn’t have a soulmate waiting out there for him he would get on his knees and worship this guy’s dick, but the guy is also an asshole so there’s that.
“Would you stop shoving your elbow in my ribs?” Steve shouted as the junior elbowed him repeatedly in a fake attempt the block him, he was literally just doing this to annoy Steve and he knew it.
”If you knew how to play, you would move out my way,” The boy smirked as he stuck his tongue out to wet his lips. Steve would never admit that he’s had the best dreams about that asshole’s tongue.
”If you knew how to play, you would know you’re trying to shoot from a foul line,” Steve glares as he steals the ball to dribble and shoot.
‘God he’s hot‘
Steve shoots the ball and ignores that soulmate is complimenting someone Steve has no clue who he’s talking about.
’nice shot pretty boy
Steve blushes once again and passes the ball to the blonde junior in pride, Steve definitely ignores the smile the blonde tries to hide as he looks down and pretends to dribble the ball.
“You’re not so bad after all,” The blonde replies as he crosses Steve over and shoots another basket.
The rest of the period goes by like this, The junior teasing Steve and Steve always having a pretty good comeback, and he definitely does not want to admit that this guy actually makes his gym more entertaining becuase he has someone to compete with instead of all the guys on the team letting him and Tommy shoot as many baskets as they want because they want to suck up to them. With this attractive junior, Steve does actually breaks a sweat in gym and feels his heart rate speed up whenever the junior is there because he knows it’s going to be a fun period, he hates to admit that this boy was what made his afternoon. That, and the fact that the guy was absolutely ripped and in the showers the guy definitely knew it because he would take his sweet ass time layering up his body and giving a show to whoever was attracted to guys in the locker room, in this case, the guy that was attracted to him was Steve Harrington. Still, Steve would never admit that becuase after all, he has his soulmate out there.
—
Later on that night, Steve dreads when his father has an especially bad day at work, because then he tends to annoy the shit out of Steve and his mother, he knit picks over the smallest shit and then that leads to him giving a lecture on how Steve is going to take over his business after school is over and a Steve always argues back that he doesn’t want to be the CEO of a manufacturing business, he wants to do something that he enjoys. That whole argument will cause an entire eruption in the family and that’s why Steve finds himself up at the quarry at 11 at night on a school night, it’s quiet and chilly but Steve likes the way the cold nips at the back of his neck, it brings him to the harsh reality of life and also awakens him. He’s leaning against his car, his back against the window shield and his feet are slightly dangling a few feet off the ground.
He drums his fingers against the car as he begins to wonder about random things like what his soulmate is doing right now? Did the person find whatever his soulmate was scared of them finding in his room? What was that cute blonde doing from his gym? What happened to his second grade crush named Raven who moved away? It’s the little shit that Steve thinks of and wonders and he always likes to enjoy the peacefulness of the Hawkins at night.
”Well I didn’t expect to find you here,”
Steve looks up at the voice that has now interrupted his thoughts, when he meets the face to the voice, he’s surprised to learn that it’s the blonde junior from gym.
”Well I didn’t expect for you to find me,” Steve replies as he watches the boy walk to stand next to Steve’s car.
It’s then silent between the two, and it almost feels like neither of them want to break the silence becuase it’s entirely too calm listening to the owls hooting and quiet cricket chirps here and there, but Steve notices the way the boy moves slightly back and forth on his toes as he stands almost uncomfortably.
”You can sit,” Steve motions to the hood of his car as he moves over, Steve wouldn’t usually allow any stranger to touch his car, let alone sit on it with him but the boy almost has a vulnerability right now that is so much different than the way he is in gym.
The boy slides on to the car smoothly and Steve notices the dejected sigh that leaves his mouth.
”You ever think about staying up here for the rest of your life? Just you and nature ya know,”
Steve notices the way the guy keeps a small distance between the two as Steve replies.
”All the time,”
Then there’s that silence again and Steve can see the way the guy seems to melt on top of his car, relaxation taking over him and Steve truly wonders what had been bothering him.
”So what brought you out here so late at night?” Steve breaks the silence this time.
The boy lets out another sigh before he fully turns to Steve. “What brought you out here so late at night?”
Steve gives him an eyeroll as he looks down at his feet, bringing his knees to his chest.
”Just stuff with my dad, wants me to take ove his business but his business fuckkng sucks so,” Steve doesn’t even know why he’s telling his business to someone who he can’t even name because they’re complete strangers to one another.
“Wow, you don’t want to be rich and situated like your dad? At least your dad has hopes for you, I can’t wait to get away from my old man god I fucking hate my house,” The boy lets out a bitter laugh as he hugs his knees to his chest like steve.
Steve doesn’t really know how to o reply becuase now he worries about the boy’s home life and he feels like shit for complaining about his dad to someone whose dad seems like hey don’t give a shit about them. So he lets a silence fall again before he decides to change the subject, he boy doesn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore and Steve won’t push.
”We never told each other our names,”
The boy finally looks up and meets eyes with Steve as he holds out his hand.
”Billy Hargrove at your service,”
”Steve Harrington,”
Steve holds the cold firm hand and smiles at the attractive guy in front of him, he feels the soft squeeze Billy gives and Steve thinks he never wants to let this hand go becuase somehow it just feels like home.
‘I could kiss him right now’
and suddenly just like Ben had said, Steve’s heart fucking explodes and it’s like all the memories of when Billy was thinking all the thoughts Steve had heard are all coming back to him and Steve’s head is ringing, his head feels like the first time he heard Billy’s thoughts, it’s dizzying and intensifying but Steve feels his heart pound as he watches Billy’s face do the same. Billy Hargrove is his soulmate, the annoying, blonde junior who annoyed him from the beginning of the school year, is Steve Harrignton’s soulmate.
“Billy,”
”Steve,”
There’s this ringing in their head that intensifies as there’s bodies slowly gravitate towards each other. As soon as their shoulders touch, just like when the connection breaks, their mind is eerily quiet and all they can truly hear is their breathing that has gotten heavier than before because now they’re slowly trying to understand that they’ve now found each other and don’t need to worry about when their soulmate is going give walk into their lives.
“You know you complain a lot in your head,” Billy’s the first to speak up and acknowledge their new found relationship.
”And you think a lot about sex so we’re even,”
Steve laughs and even though the joke is not as funny, they laugh until their stomachs hurt and part of their laughing comes from a place in their heart of shock that they’re here, in this moment, breathing in each other’s space, their soulmate’s space.
It’s new and exciting and by the time their done laughing, their thighs are touching and their shoulders overlap each other’s, the vibe is happiness and new feelings that Steve can’t quite explain yet but he knows that now that he has Billy, those feelings will figure themselves out. And him and Billy will figure out every nook and cranny about each other becuase that’s what soulmate’s do and they’ve both waited a long time to find their person.
”So are we gonna kiss or not?”
Steve is going to cherish Billy and Billy will do the same.