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It happens in the play room. There’s only so much ridicule Steve can take from Dustin before he starts to lose his cool. “Yep, go ahead and sit there, playing with your children’s toys.” Dustin says, looking for anything in the room that can help them. “I’m glad Nance turned you down to be her partner. You probably would’ve slowed her down, anyway.” It gets to a point.
The older man hops off of the counter he’s sitting on and dramatically walks around the room, giving the shorter boy an ‘are you happy’ look. Theatrically, he lifts chairs and tables and toy boxes with a gasp, “Nothing under here!” He peels a poster off of the wall, “Oh, and not here, either! I was really hoping I would find some hidden clues, or, or, oh! A tunnel to another hidden dimension!” He says flagrantly.
“You’re so funny, Steve.” Dustin says, deadpan. “If only your humor could make up for your lack of intelligence. Maybe we would have found something by now.” Steve bites his lip, trying not to give in, not to stoop to the level of the kid trying to get on his nerves. He fails. “Maybe, we would have found something if you weren’t sending us on a wild goose chase. I told you, let’s wait for the others, but you insisted on coming here to find some ancient, outdated chemistry homework. So don’t blame me.”
While he’s walking past the boy, Steve bumps Dustin in annoyance. A sparkle of hope glimmers in the boy’s eyes as he pushes Steve back twice as hard, with the intent to start something. The man lands on the wall with a thud, and he stays there like a fly caught in a glue trap. Steve is frozen, Dustin is glaring at him with what can only be best described as desperation. “Jesus Christ.” He breathes, because even though neither of them are talking, all he can hear is ‘Hit me’.
The men don’t break eye contact. They don’t say a word. Steve feels like this is some sort of asserting of dominance on Dustin’s part. “I’m not gonna hit you.” he says, and he’s expecting a response like ‘I never said I wanted you to.’ or, ‘Right, I didn’t think you would.’, but all he hears is, “Why not?” It comes out breathless, and anxious, and terrified.
Steve’s throat is dry, so much so that he’s surprised when he goes to talk and coherent words actually come out. “You’re not well. You’re different.” He swallows, “Eddie changed you.” “Don’t.” Dustin chokes, but Steve continues, “When he died, you did too. The real Henderson. The one who wasn’t supposed to change, or get into fights.” He exhales, and then inhales. It feels like he’s breathing manually.
“He wasn’t being brave, he was being stupid. I told him – I told you, not to be a hero, but he didn’t listen.” “Shut up! You didn’t know him, you didn’t see! –” Dustin yells, but Steve just has to keep talking. “He made a dumb call, and he got himself killed!” After that, the atmosphere seems to shift. From angry to what, he’s not sure. Maybe solemn. Maybe resentful.
The younger boy steps forward, and Steve would step back if he could, fear gradually pumping in erratic rhythms through his veins. Instead, he can only flush his back with the wall. He sees Dustin’s fist clench and raise in an instant. He tackles the younger boy and tries to pin his arms to his side. He succeeds with one, but the other breaks free and begins repeatedly punching him in the side.
Steve grabs the boy, kicking his shin enough to make his leg buckle and pushes him to the ground. Dustin grabs a handful of marbles and toy soldiers and throws them at the older man, catching him off guard and leaving him vulnerable. He punches at Steve’s stomach and the man involuntarily jerks his arm, his body reacting at the sudden sign of danger.
His knuckles sting as they come into contact with Dustin’s nose. He watches in horror as the boy winces and blood begins to flow steadily down his chin. He stops moving and raises his hand to check the boy’s face. “Shit! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean –” He’s cut off by Dustin’s fist pummeling into his cheek.
For a moment, neither of the men make a move. They stand in opposite corners of the room, circling one another like street cats or wrestlers during a timeout. The sound of heavy breathing fills the air. Dustin lunges forward and tackles Steve, wrangling them both through the large gap in the wall. They land on the opposite side of the wall with a thump, and Harrington quickly scrambles to get up.
He corners the younger boy on the floor and grips the collar of his shirt with an emotion he’s never felt before. It’s a hurricane of anger and confusion, but at the eye of the storm, worry. “You wanna die so bad.” He breathes. Dustin only squirms under his hold for a few moments. It seems he’s given up. “So what? I’ve spent these past months making sure that no one’s gonna miss me.”
“What?” Steve’s eyes go wide as he asks, “Are you – Are you serious?” Dustin doesn’t respond. He just looks at Steve like a man who’s ready to lose it all. The older man feels like throwing up when he sees that this look has been in the boy’s eyes for far too long. He just never noticed it. Harrington feels his throat close a little bit, “How could you think – Dustin, nothing you do is gonna make me hate you.
If you die,” He entertains the possibility. A world where Dustin isn’t around to bug him at work, or walkie him late at night when he’s trying to sleep, or hitch rides in his car, or constantly ask Steve to buy him food. Tears prick at his eyes and he stops thinking. “I’d be there with you, because I can’t – I just can’t imagine a world without my best friend. So whatever you’re planning, I hope you know that I’m not gonna let you go through with it.”
Dustin looks away as a tear runs down his cheek. “I’m not planning anything. It’s just in case. If something happens to me… Or to you –” He breaks. “I can’t do it again. I loved Eddie, so much I really looked up to him.” He wipes his eyes. He notices Steve flinch at the movement of his arm before relaxing again. “I love you too, and I – You’re my best friend. I thought that maybe if I was an asshole, I wouldn’t care if you died, and you wouldn’t care if I did.”
Steve releases his grip from the younger man’s collar and pulls him into a tight hug. They sit there for a moment, sobbing in each other’s arms. Steve says, “I’m stubborn, you know that, Henderson.” and the shorter boy chuckles. “Yeah.” He pulls away from the hug. “Hey, I’m sorry. About everything.” Dustin says.
Steve responds, “I’m sorry too.” The other boy looks at him, confused. “I’ve got a lot to be sorry about, man. I should’ve been more patient. I should’ve asked if you were really okay. ” He stands up and extends a hand. “But for right now, we should get a move on.”
Dustin takes his hand and sees a crack in the wall to his right. He recognizes it as a door. He steps through and is met with an abandoned lab. He picks up a notebook filled with notes and diagrams and Steve looks at him with pride, “Would you look at that? Seems you were right. This lab really does have something to give us.”