Chapter Text
Let it be known that Steve Harrington, for all intents and purposes, does not hate the combination fabric store and tailor shop that he has come to own. It started as a pipe dream. He loved making costumes during Halloween because his parents thought it a waste of money and they were never home during the holiday anyway. In high school he needed an easy elective and despite being a total jock, got involved in making costumes for the theater department. He pretended to hate it until his popularity took a nose dive and he stopped caring what people thought. Finally in college, he started altering and making his own clothes because he finally decided that polos and khakis were not the most fashionable thing, even though his mom seemed to think it was.
For all this, Steve Harrington loves his shop,but customers like this make him want to bang his head into the concrete walls. The man comes in looking for leather to patch a leather couch. Fine, he carries leather in 4 yard increments that can be cut down to size. The man looks annoyed at this and asks for scrap pieces, Steve pulls out the discount scrap bin behind the cut counter. After doing that the man starts to lecture and then begins to yell for some god forsaken reason.
“-this is ridiculous! im doing your fucking work! A fucking fag that owns a god damn- “
“Okay that’s enough!” Steve slams his hands on the counter. “Either you get what you came here for or you leave.”
The man just looks angrier but he grabs the scrap leather he set aside and just grumbles that he’ll take it. Steve leads him on a walk of shame to the register, goes through the motions of the transaction, smiles and says “ Have a blessed day” in the most sickeningly sweet voice he could muster before handing the man his bag. Once the customer leaves Steve swears while all but slamming the door behind him and starts going through the closing procedure. Usually he has one of the kids he used to “babysit” helping out part time, but they had a D&D session, so he said he’d cover it tonight.
The little shop is located in Chicago and he was lucky for the space. Store space on bottom and apartment on the top. It was pretty large. His father bought it after his college graduation. That building and his trust fund were the last things his parents ever did for him.
“Stephano, you aren’t going to be a disappointment anymore. This is the last thing we’ll do for you. You aren’t our son and you can go be a Queer somewhere else. Never associate yourself with us ever. If anyone asks we aren't related.”
Steve didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing him cry. He just packed his shit into his car, seeing his mom just drinking wine and ignoring everything.
They sold his childhood home 2 weeks after he had moved up to Chicago.
The day he got to his little store, Robin (his hero and platonic life partner) helped him clean, and set up everything. The building was newly renovated so not a lot had to be done to the apartment or the store. Just furniture building and new paint. He cried into her shoulder when they were finished. He wasn’t mourning his parents, he mourned the illusion that they could love him.
He is very lucky his own little family, The Party as the kids kept insisting, all decided to go to college in the area as none of them could bear to be apart for too long. They were his real family.
When Will was kidnapped by a serial killer, they had all jumped in to investigate. Steve at first wasn’t involved but saving Jonathan and Nancy from a close call with said serial killer and then their subsequent trauma when ,one by one, the killer rounded them all up and said he would torture them first.
Thankfully, he was stupid, and Hopper found them with Joyce’s help. They found Will worse for wear and almost dead. Steve suffered head trauma and various stomach scars because he managed to get the killer to focus on him. His hearing aids and glasses were one of many gifts that experience left him. Max was the worst besides him and Will. All her limbs were broken and her vision is almost gone. She uses a cane on good days. A wheelchair on bad ones.
Dustin escaped with a broken ankle, everyone else scrapes and bruises.
They also found their last family member. A girl the killer, Henry Creel, had apparently been keeping all this time. She was traumatized, little to no education or social skills. Being adopted by Hop and the rest of the party helped her and while there are a few things that she doesn’t get socially, she is essentially on par with everyone else and is going to school to be a preschool teacher. Steve is very proud.
Will only goes to school every other semester, taking it slow and doing freelance art and design while working part time at Steve’s store when he had a big clothing order or whenever Steve craved company. Steve loves Will and he is secretly his favorite (don’t tell Dustin).
The store is not wired with any CD system. There is a radio, which Steve hated because of the commercials, and a tape deck that he changes a couple times a day . Should I Stay or Should I Go comes on and it makes him feel a touch better after that horrid last customer. He knows it's Will's tape, he listens to a lot of music but The Clash isn’t really something he would pick, but if Will wants him to listen to something he listens. He usually ends up liking it in the long run anyway.
After taking out the trash and finishing sweeping up dust and fabric scraps, he grabs a few pieces of clothing that needs to be worked on and moves them to the sewing machine in his apartment. He then decides to go out to eat because cooking right now would just let him steep in the leftover anger that he’s still feeling. There is a great Mexican restaurant down the street and he orders tacos and grabs a box of conchas as well. On his way back home, he finds a record store he’s never seen before. It advertises tapes, vinyl and CD’s.Never being one to pass up a good deal on a new tape, he opens the door. A bell rings above his head and he hears a soft ‘welcome in’ from a back room while he beelines for the wall of tapes in the far corner.
“Well, hey there pretty boy. Anything I can help you with?” The voice he hears instantly makes him turn red so he turns and looks at the owner and sees, quite possibly the most attractive person he’s seen in a while. His long curly hair tied in a messy bun, white beat sneakers that have seen better days, a white button up with the first three buttons undone, revealing tattoos, and the tightest pair of black jeans he’s seen. His brown eyes look expectantly at him, eyebrows raised, cuing Steve into the fact that he has taken too long to answer.
“Uhhh, I'm actually looking for a tape? Maybe something a little angry. I had a bad customer interaction today and I want something loud to play in the shop tomorrow.” Steve says this a little meekly and the man lets out a laugh. “The joys of retail right? Does the genre matter or can I get you into something new?” He smiles and Steve is about ready to faint. “I don’t really mind. Nothing too crazy maybe?”. Another laugh comes out of the man, “nothing too crazy, he says! Alright my liege, let’s find you something new, although are you sure you want a cassette? We have CDs too?”
“n..no that’s alright, im playing these in my store, the sound system is old and only plays tapes, but it’s better than listening to radio commercials.” The man, Steve still doesn’t know his name, mutters something like ‘you got that right’. He’s not sure, he took his hearing aids off so he didn’t have to be yelled at and hear it at full volume. They look through the store’s collection of tapes, occasionally making comments on one or another. Was he flirting with Steve? Maybe? Robin always said Steve was oblivious, but holy shit he genuinely can’t tell. In the end Steve follows him to the register, and the collection of tapes in his hand couldn’t be further from anything he’s played in the store till now. It's the 90’s and Steve could not escape his love of pop icons despite everyone in his life trying and failing to get him to listen to anything else. He recognizes some of the artists like Motley Crue but Accept escapes him. There’s also a Metallica tape in there and he sneaks in a Madonna tape while the other man is turned. Sue him, his dad threw away his old one.
“ SO, pretty boy, can I get a name along with that face? Maybe the name of the store you apparently run?” The man looks at him expectantly after having rung up the tapes before Steve could even notice. Steve is starting to sweat as he pulls at the collar of his shirt.
“ I uh, run Cut/Sew down the street, OH! My name is Steve by the way, Steve Harrington!”
“woah, wait, HARRINGTON?! Steve the Hair, Harrington?! You can’t be, you look way too different.” He flinches at the recognition. Oh no, had he been an asshole to him? Does Steve have time to leave and never come back? “im uh, sorry if I ever did or said anything to you in high school, but I could understand If you want me to leave?”
“no, no ,no, I mean your lackeys did but they only did it when you weren’t around. I think they thought you disapproved. Don’t worry man, I'm just surprised that you’re even here! I thought you were living it up taking care of those children that followed you around?” He seems genuine so Steve let some of the tension in his shoulders go.
“oh, uh they are all going to college up here, and my dad sold the house… so here I am.”
“Here you are, indeed. I'm Eddie. Eddie Munson if you remember me at all.”
oh. oh.
Steve remembers him. He remembered the stupid battle of the bands that the school put on. He remembers Eddie’s band and he remembers the criminally tight pants and cut up shirt he wore while he was singing and playing his guitar. Of course Steve remembers him.
“Yeah.” his voice cracks “ of course I do man, glad you finally graduated.” God, he hopes that comes across as a joke, he means it as a joke.Eddie chuckles at his comment, so he takes it as a win.
“Yeah man, 86’ was my year. After I graduated i got the fuck out of Hawkins as fast as I could. Came up here and started working at the store. I also bartend sometimes, but I'm mostly working on my music.”
“I'm glad. You seem much happier here than in Hawkins.”
The smile Eddie gives Steve at that comment is wistful and almost sad.
“You do too, Steve.” For some reason that comment hits Steve harder than he expected. Steve was only miserable when he was around his parents and his old friends but his new friends, no, his Family, made him feel so much more alive.
“Maybe Hawkins was the problem the whole time.” and oh, Eddie’s laugh. Steve could get used to using his time to make this man laugh.
“oh, also, don’t think I didn’t see that Madonna tape, Harrington. Really? You are gonna buy that With Iron Maiden, Accept, Motley Crue and Metallica? I'm hurt, don’t you trust me?” Eddie jokes and uses those dramatic hand gestures that he’s always used. Steve just rolls his eyes. “Hey, 1 out of 5 is really good for me. Be grateful I usually wouldn’t listen to this but I'm in a good mood.” Eddie leans onto the counter, resting his chin on his hand and giving Steve a bag full of tapes in the other. “Fine, Fine. Hope you like them, at least. Hey, what’s in that other bag? smells good.”
“Tacos and some conchas from the Mexican place down the street!” Steve loves to talk about them. The nice woman who does the baking always gives him extra bread. “Here, not enough food to share but I have an extra concha, you can have it!” He takes out one of the pastries , wraps it in a napkin and hands it to Eddie. “Something sweet to end my night. Thank you, sweetheart.” Steve goes red. Suddenly it's way too hot in this little record store.
“Uh, i gotta go, gotta be up to open in the morning.” Another smile, oh god, he needs to talk to Robin. “Of course! See ya around, Harrington.” Steve gives him a quick bye wave and walks out the door as fast as he could without seeming like he’s trying to escape. He just wants to eat, sleep and forget that his secret, gay, high school crush works on the same street as his shop.
What are the fucking odds?