Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1 | Fortunate Son
“Take care son, and if faith finds you, die with honor. Make me proud and live up to the Harrington name. Come back with a medal or don't come back at all.”
These were the last words his father spoken to him. Standing on the porch waiting for his bus Steve thought he would feel all sorts of emotions. Looking at his right, his mother was gently weeping, wiping her tears with a kitchen cloth, which she happened to have in hand. But there was nothing. He'd hoped he would feel something considering the heaviness of the situation. That this might be the last time his eyes would wonder around the white fences of the quiet suburban neighborhood of Hawkins. But they never came.
Sentiment abandoned him long ago, around the early age of 10. His mother was kind to him, one could say loving even, but his father was the ruling force of the household. His temper short, like a cold winter's day but his anger like a wildfire. Childish nature was considered weakness. His joy as rebellion. His fears as life lessons to be taught. And his individuality as sin. Something that had to be gutted out from the roots. Steve's life was duty. To always attend, and always deliver whatever his father was expecting of him. And as he grow he got better at it. Steve and his mother orbited around his father's demands like the planets orbiting around the sun. If you stayed on your path you won't get burned. A living hell for a tender soul like he was.
So young Steve walked on eggshells towards his teenager years, up until now. The letter came in a couple of days ago. It was late spring of 69’ and every men at the right age, unmarried without a child got the call up. The country was at war with Vietnam. He sat in the dining room that morning devouring his favorite breakfast of pancakes. A little joy in his mellow morning he thought to himself.
The warm May sun danced through the white lace curtains of the dining room and painted his cheeks with wavy shadows. His tired looking hazel eyes gazed at nothing. Steve's thoughts were traveling around the events of last night. He went to watch a movie with the Wheelers oldest daughter. A date his father arranged. The Wheelers were a good middle class family, nice fellow Christians in the neighborhood. The “perfect alliance” as his father called them. Not that there were a lot of options in a small town like this.
And Nancy Wheeler was a nice young girl. She was beautiful, quick witted, and intelligent. She'd make a perfect wife, but for Steve that wasn't something he was sure he wanted. He knew he could fall in love with Nancy Wheeler, but something about her made him feel that she would deserve better than him. Sooner or later they would grow apart. Nancy was ambitious, full of life and individuality. And him? Well he wasn't any of those things, he barely even knew who he was. He just followed what he was told and never gave a second thought because he knew at the end what he wanted didn't mattered. And maybe he would've ended up marrying Nancy, but that morning brought a different destiny for Steve Harrington.
His mother stormed into the house sobbing uncontrollably holding the content of their post box pressed to her chest so tightly that Steve could almost hear the paper crying for help against her mothers flowery apron, his favorite one. Among some newspapers and wrinkled fliers there was a white envelope with military stamps on it. So that was it. Steve picked up his small luggage, kissed his mother on the forehead and waved goodbye as he walked away. And still the emotions never came. As he closed the fence behind himself, he knew whatever was ahead couldn’t be worse than the first 20 years of his life.
***
Indiana to New York was a good 13 hours bus ride which someone could find rather torturous, but Steve was excited about it. He felt life running through his veins for the first time in years, filling him with an electric buzz he couldn’t explain. It's not like he had anyone to explain it to anyways. Steve never had any real friends.
He pressed his head against the bus window as he got lost in the scenery. Though he was alone, for the first time he didn't mind it. They were about 6 hours away from New York. The vibration of the window against his head began to lulled him to sleep. He wasn't asleep long before a loud bang violently shook him awake. The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and there was some smoke coming from the back.
"Sorry y'all. This lady ain’t goin' further tonight. Please gather your luggage. There's a motel about a mile from here. You can file for complaints and refunds at the station of your final destination!" The driver yelled from the door.
And with that, Steve found himself in the middle of nowhere, standing on the sidewalk with his luggage pulling down on his arm. The sun still wasn't up, but he was eager to hitch himself a ride. If his life will end in two months he thought, he better not waste time.
To his luck most people decided on the motel so there wasn’t a huge competition. He put out his arm to signal. A couple of trucks passed him by. About 20 minutes later a smaller van pulled up beside him. Steve jogged over to the vehicle and looked through the opened window to a girl beaming at him.
"Where ya headed?
"New York. But anything along the way will do." He squinted at her. "I’m Steve by the way. Steve Harrington”
“Nice to meet you Steve. I’m Robin, and it’s your lucky day my fella. I’m heading to the big apple too." She smiled.
Steve stood there for a second processing his luck. He surveyed the van. It was a pretty beaten up rusty white and orange Volkswagen van with huge flowers painted all over it. He never seen something so obnoxiously colorful. He knew about the movement but he never met Hippies before. Hawkins was a small town after all.
"Are you coming or what dingus? Hurry up!“ She narrowed her eyes at him.
“ Yeah, sorry I was just admiring the . . . flowers.” he gestured with his finger, smiling as he climbed into the passenger seat.
“You like them?" Robin's smile grown even bigger, and Steve found her aura very warm and comforting. She had a short bob cut that ended around her jaw line, her mustard yellow bishop sleeved top was way too big for her frame and her flared jeans had more holes than material. Her wrists were decorated with all kinds of jewelry that seemed handmade, dangling and clanking as she motioned to him to get in. The inside of the van was just as loud like the outside. All kinds of colors and wavy shapes screamed into Steve’s face all at once. It felt like he was looking at this girl's soul in the shape of a car’s interior.
“I did it myself!“ She exclaimed proudly. “Eddie said I should do it, and I did, I’m not very good at drawing but it turned out so sexy! She's a beast isn't she?" She pulled out onto the road. "Eddie always says fear is what kills creativity, and he is so right. How about you Steve? Are you good at drawing? Where are you from? What has you going to New York?”
Steve’s brain tried to catch up to the litany of things that Robin was saying. She talked so rapidly that by the time Steve could form an answer she was already talking about cosmic energies and the powers of the mind.
"Sorry, I did it again. I can’t shut my pie hole. Eddie says it’s good for your mental health. To just speak and let it all out, ya know? Sometimes it’s helpful, but . . .”
“Wh . . . who is Eddie?" Steve finally asked narrowing his eyes, because he really didn't have a clue, but it seemed as a reasonable question.
"Oh shoot! Yeah I’m just mumbling about him and you don’t even know him. I'm sorry." She shook her head to herself.
“Is he your boyfriend? This..Eddie?" Steve regretted asking the moment it was out of his mouth. Great, now he seemed like a total creep.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to . . ." He quickly started. " You don’t have to answer. That was weird. It's none of my business." Steve sulked back into his seat.
"It’s ok! No offence man. But god no, Eddie is not my boyfriend! Just a friend, him and Dustin! We're like . . . family. But we aren’t related. And we definitely are NOT together like that." She stole a sideway glance at him.
"My grandma passed away and I had to come back for the funeral. I'm just heading back to the city now. But those people aren’t my family anymore. Eddie and Dustin are. You can come hang out with us if you want! I know some cool places . . ."
Robin stopped mid sentence glancing at Steve who gave her a warm sympathetic smile but the look on his face told Robin she just lost him five sentence ago.
“I did it again didn’t I? “ She chuckled shyly.
“At least my next seven hours won’t be boring." Steve joked. He was starting to feel more relaxed in her presence. Although there was nothing about Robin that one could call calm or relaxing. She was a fireball but in the best way possible. The very opposite of him, as he was more quiet and reserved.
“So . . . Mr. Steve Harrington what brings you to the City of Dreams, if I may ask? And don't worry, you won't over share here." She teased.
“Well, I got the call up. Seems I’ll go to Vietnam. But before then, I got some time. So, you know . . . I just wanted to have new experiences.“ Steve pulled out his military call up letter from the pocked of his jacket and held it up between his fingers for Robin to see. The girl looked up at the letter then to Steve with an expression he couldn’t read. She looked disappointed but more like sad. There was a moment of silence between them, and Robin spoke again.
“So do you have anything in mind? You know, about having new experiences?“ she asked.
"Well I heard it might be worthy to check out the Statue of Liberty . . .” before he could finish Robin bursted into laughter.
"Oh Steve we could do more fun things than that! Come stay with us! You'll love it! You can meet the boys too. We usually camp in the vans and move around often. There's music, and art, and dance. Pretty girls or boys whatever you want!“ She gave a little wiggle of her brow.
Steve sensed that Robin wouldn’t give up persuading him, so without much hesitation and better plans in sights he agreed. Steve wasn’t the spontaneous type, but Robin promised him that this will be the summer of his life. And that’s exactly what he needed since he knew it might be his last. The rest of the ride Steve was in and out of sleep, they made a quick stop for food and to stretch their legs in midway, and when they arrived to New York Steve was sleeping again. Robin parked the van in a nice parking lot surrounded with huge oak trees sheltering it from the sun. When Steve opened his eyes he saw the leaves above the van glistening light green in the afternoon light. The parking lot was fairly empty. Only a couple other vans and cars were there but felt more like a campground than an actual parking lot. It was quiet and peaceful.
“Okay! We’re arrived! Thank you so much for choosing the Robbie airlines, hope you had a pleasant flight Sir!” And with that Robin swung her door open and jumped out of the car, she did a big stretch before disappearing to the back of the van. Opening the back doors she gathered some things that appeared to be a small towel and some toothpaste and toothbrush. Steve followed suit and got out of the van. He was a bit sore sitting for so long but he was happy to finally be here, in the “ City of Dreams” as Robin called it. He turned his face towards the sun closed his eyes and let the rays gently stroke his tired face. It felt serene for a moment. He felt so alive. He was on an adventure, he felt brand new in some ways. Then Robin shut the doors of the van with a loud bang and it pulled him back to reality.
“Hey dingus! I know you men can go without cleaning yourselves for like a week. But this lady's gotta go take a shower in that public bathroom. You stay here ok? Feel free to refresh yourself too! Eddie will be here shortly. He said Wednesday at 4 pm. I’ll be right back! Don’t get lost okay Steve?"
“Sure I’ll just wait here!" He smiled to her but a sudden wave of nerves hit him at the thought of meeting this Eddie guy whom Robin couldn't seem to shut up about. When he wasn’t asleep during the ride Robin told him, well basically her whole life story, mostly blabbering about the mind and spiritual, nature and mushrooms...and Eddie.
Steve didn’t understood why he felt the way he did. He glanced at his reflection in the window and tucked some unruly strings of golden brown hair behind his ears.
“You’re an idiot Steve.“ He shook his head to himself.
He was just trying to make a good impression, because Robin really put the guy on a pedestal. So he settled his thoughts on this must be the reason of his anxious behavior. He decided to stretch his legs instead of standing there waiting for whoever will come. He didn’t really know where he was but that was the beauty of it. At the end of the parking was a little park, with more trees and lush green grass. He strolled over, keeping the the van in sight, just in case. As he got closer a gentle breeze carried the sound of music. The tune sounded foreign for his ears. Something from the far East he thought, but it was enchanting.
A bunch of people, men and women dressed just like Robin did some strange kind of dance. Their movements were slowed and measured, hands and arms twisting and snaking to the rhythm. They seemed to be in some sort of hypnotic state and Steve was mesmerized by the sight. His brain started to tingle and relax just by watching them. As he observed more, he found that some of the movements were kind of erotic. Arms and legs intertwining with each other, chests rising and falling against each other. He could barely tell the dancers apart as their bodies became one. With a loud gulp he reminded himself that this was no longer Hawkins. After a moment Steve decided it’s time to head back to the van and as he started to back up he bumped into someone.
“Whoa whoa, easy there big boy.” A sickeningly sweet low baritone penetrated Steve’s ears.
“So sorry man, I didn’t see you there.“ he apologized as he regained his posture, eyes glued to the guy he bumped into. He was wearing flared jeans and a denim vest embroidered with colorful flowers but nothing under that, his chest was on full display. A little trail of black hair run down from his belly button and disappeared under his low rise jeans.
“Do you enjoy what you see?” The guy asked, wearing a devilish grin on his face as he curiously looked Steve up and down.
He was just about the same height as him. Similarly built, lean and muscular. His purple tie dyed bandana didn’t do a good job to tame his dark curly hair that was falling over his shoulders, making his pale skin pop even more. And those huge dark doe eyes. The eyes that bore a hole into Steve.
"Pardon me? “ Steve’s face went pale.
"Do you enjoy what you see?" The show? " He gestured to the dancers, while his grin grown even wider.
"Oh! Yes, absolutely. It’s . . . great. It's all very new to me. Wish I could dance like that." Steve finally menaged, feeling dumb for a second.
"Hmm." The man hummed in understanding and took out a cigarette from his back pocket. He slowly lit it, as he turned his gaze to the dancers. He offered it to Steve, who politely declined it.
"You’re not from around here are ya?” Those eyes bore into Steve.
"What give it away?" Steve bashfully smiled and looked down to inspect his own shoes. It was mighty interesting.
"Well, there’s plenty . . . but mostly the fact that you think you can’t dance like that. Everybody can."
Steve quickly looked up at him with surprise. The other boy was smiling, still measuring him up.
"No, no, I’m pretty positive on that one. I’m just not very good at . . . moving my body I guess." Steve stammered.
The long haired one snorted a laugh, choking on a bit of smoke.
“Oh I could help you with that." He smirked.
Steve felt his heartbeat thrummed in his chest at the comment. Him moving so dreamy, like he is making slow love to someone? Was it so normal here that everyone could do it? How could he help him with that?
His mind was racing a million times per hour.
The hippie guy seemed greatly amused by Steve's not so discrete internal battles. He took a long drag and decided to help him out of his misery.
“Sometimes it's just fear . . . that’s what blocks the flow, that's all I'm trying to say.” He made an O shape with his big plush lips and puffed out a smoke ring, that Steve watched a little too eagerly."
When he caught himself staring, Steve cleared his throat and put his hands on both side of his hips, trying to come up with something equally deep, but his brain failed him miserably. He didn't know why he wasn't able to act normally. This guy wasn't intimidating for Steve but something about him felt like a magnetic pull, a force way too strong for Steve to be able to focus. Like his internal compass was thrown into the Bermuda Triangles, he felt completely disoriented. So for the sake of not make himself look like a total idiot, Steve decided leaving will be his best option.
"Sorry, I was about to head back, my friend must be looking for me by now. I promised her I won't get lost. It was nice to meet you" He offered his hand for a shake. Probably it was the only normal behavior Steve exhibited during their short-lived conversation and he was pretty proud of himself.
"No worries, I get it. The pleasure was mine." the other boy said, the cigarette dangling from his mouth as he shook Steve’s hand.
It was a little bit longer and stronger than a usual handshake but Steve didn't find it strange. Finally he pulled away and started to walk back when the boy yelled after him.
“Hey, wait…do you have some money?” He called.
"Do I have money? Uh, not much, and it’s for emergencies." Steve called back.
"Any small thing would do." The long haired stranger said. "A dollar? 50 cents?"
"Why should I give you money?" Steve asked.
"Maybe cuz I’m hungry? I haven’t eaten anything in two days."
"You haven’t eaten in two days?" Steve narrowed his eyes at him.
"Oh huh."
"I don’t believe you." Steve said shyly. The black haired boy chuckled and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. He turned and continued watching the dancers while he smoked some more. Steve felt royally dumb, he didn’t know how to act. He wasn’t from around here and he didn’t even know this guy. He was scared to get scammed, but at the end he felt pity so he started to fishing in his pockets for small change.
"Here!" Steve yelled back at the hippie who turned to look at him with a mischievous smile. Steve held up the coin and tossed it in his way. The guy slowly jogged there and picked it up from the ground and held it up winking at Steve. “Thanks man it’s for a good cause”.
Steve nodded and left.
"Country boys.” The hippie rolled his eyes in amusement and huffed out a laugh watching Steve disappear.
Steve was full of questions. Mostly about himself. Why did he froze like that? It was just a normal conversation. But everything that was going on in his head was too much to tackle right now. When Steve arrived back to the van, Robin was walking out of small building of the public bathroom.
“Now that was life changing!“ She said with a satisfied smile on her face. Her freckles glowed in the afternoon sunlight, and Steve found them adorable. “You good? You seem . . . odd. Did Eddie arrived? “
“Yeah, no I'm fine! I'm good! Well, I went for a small stroll but I haven't seen anybody coming into the parking lot." Steve looked around, the nervousness returning to his mind.
“Ahh he's always late. ALWAYS!!” Robin shook her head in an angry manner as she climbed into the back of the van “Steve do we still have any of those sandwiches we got at the gas station? Could you please check? I’m starving! I’m gonna change my blouse at the back real quick don’t look!"
“I remember we still have some.” Steve bent half way into the passenger seat and opened the glove compartment. Robin in the back started to struggle with her blouse shaking the van as she tried to dress up. For the unexpected movements Steve accidentally dropped one of the sandwiches that landed on the foot mat. He let out a shaky "Fuck” while Robin was trying to regain her balance in the back, giving out all sorts of noises of struggle. The next thing he felt was a strong thug on the back of his belt, and he was yanked out of the passengers seat, and thrown against the side of the van. The sound of the metal resonated through the air. He could only let out a weak squeak as two strong fists was grabbing his shirt by the neck.
“ Who the fuck are you?" Steve met the same pair of dark eyes, that left a rather deep impression on him earlier, only this time there was anger in them followed by complete confusion.
“You?!” The dark haired man said.
“Eddie STOP!” Robin screamed from the bottom of her lungs, swinging open the back doors as she jumped out.
Eddie this is Steve. He’s harmless! Let go! I’m fine! He is cool, HE IS COOL!" Steve's eyes were pleading for forgiveness for whatever was the reason for being choked by the collar.
The hippie's face relaxed but his grip was still tight on Steve's shirt.
“Well, hello Stevie."
And as he heard his name rolling off of the other guy's tongue, voice deep and rumbling, resonating in his chest through every cell in his body, Steve had no choice but to surrendered to his destiny.
