Head Over Heels - Steddie

3

There was always one thing Steve hated particularly about living most of his time alone, and having parents who only visited on holidays, and that was groceries shopping. Not the fact that he had to spend money, but the fact that he had to actually do it.

All of it.

Plan what he needed to buy, drive to the store, leave the car, and then walk through the entire store most likely being the only 18 year old boy having to buy his own groceries. There was, of course, other 18 year olds there often, buying things like soda, and gum, and maybe a chocolate bar or two, but it was different compared to buying a bag of potatoes, toilet paper, milk, soap, eggs.. yeah the list goes on.

It really was different.

He felt depressed sitting there in the parking lot waiting for him to pull himself out of the car. He wished he had brought someone with him, since he knew for a fact that Dustin was free today. Steve didn't want to bother him though, since he knew that the boy had been busy lately and deserved an afternoon at home just chilling with his mom. Maybe drink a cup of that tea he always loved to drink when they were watching movies or playing board games. Or maybe he considered helping his mom in the kitchen, which Steve knew Dustin secretly liked doing.

He really couldn't keep his head straight today, cause all his thoughts wandered back to Eddie Munson as fast as he didn't have something to think about. And it frustrates him entirely. He couldn't necessarily say that he was mad at him for making him think about him, cause that could Steve only blame himself for. But he did indeed feel a small amount of anger towards him for some reason.

After sitting there another five minutes, he finally opened the car door and stepped outside to be met by the cloudy weather. The sun hadn't appeared for almost three days now, and all Hawkins got was rain and cloudy, grey skies that ruined everyone's mood.

He grabbed a cart and made his way to the doors with the annoying sound of the wheels rolling on the uneven asphalt in the background. A bunch of teenagers were standing at the entrance fighting about who would get the last gum, and Steve just walked past them and continued into the store with the thought of them in the back of his head. It was cold, and the sound of the cart turned into a soft, smooth sound that felt quite satisfyingly pleasing.

Everything felt normal, he picked out veggies, milk, protein, yoghurt, and then suddenly he could feel someone staring at him from behind. He sighed on the inside, turned around and felt a big rock fall off his shoulder when he saw Mrs. Wheeler standing there with her own cart, staring at him with a concerned face.

"Mrs. Wheeler?"

Sure, he was probably considered a family friend of theirs by now, since he spent much time at their house hanging out with every single one of them. Fixed the car with Ted, cooked with Karen, studies with Nancy and babysit Holly and just hung out with Mike. But he was sill surprised by her walking up to him in the grocery store, of all places.

"Oh, stop it, Steve. You know very well that you can call me Karen by now." She said with her soft voice, blushing a little while she looked him deep in the eyes. Steve couldn't help but smile awkwardly. "Why haven't you come visited in a while? I've missed you." She walked up to him, her facial expression was hard to read and Steve could swear that she looked sad and happy at the same time. She was wearing a small smile, but her eyes showed nothing more or less than sadness. "Holly does too." She continued, sighing.

Steve felt a knot of anxiety and happiness build up inside of him, both because he realizing that he hadn't visited them for about a month and a half, and that they had actually missed him. He wished his parents told him they missed him sometimes. They don't even call him anymore.

"I guess I've.. just been busy." He mumbled, looking around. A lady in Karen's age looked at them as she walked past, but didn't give them a weird look or anything. She just.. looked at them. "It's a lot going on at school now, and I've been busy with work and keeping everything going at home as well." He explained. Part of it was true, the other part of it wasn't. It wasn't too much going on at school since it was almost exactly one months left until graduation, but he had been busy with work and taking care of himself and the house. It was exhausting some days, studying, working, cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking dinner everyday.

She sighed and looked at him. She wasn't smiling anymore, and Steve just looked back at her with a small hope that she wasn't too concerned about him.

"Oh lord how I would have wished you were born with other parents, Steve. You're way too sweet to.." She paused and shook her head in frustration. "Why don't you come over and have dinner with the us on Sunday, honey? I bet that would make both Holly and Ted very happy." She smiled at him again.

She was wearing a bright pink t-shirt today, and a pair of blue jeans. Steve scanned her up and down before giving her a forced smile and a soft nod.

"Of course." His grip around his cart tightened a little. It wasn't like he didn't want to have dinner with the Wheelers, he actually did. After he had finally accepted that Nancy and he were nothing more than friends, they had actually become quite tight and so grew his relationship to the rest of the family as well.

But he still felt very guilty for not visiting them in a while. He knew they needed him just as much as he needed them, cause Ted treated him like the son he wished Mike would grow up to be, and finally showed some interest in being with the others when Steve was around. And that made all of the other family members feel amazing.

Karen gave him a kiss on the cheek before she headed to the checkouts, and he was left standing there a couple of minutes just thinking. About everything. Him and Nancy, how is still kind of hurt thinking about her - even though he wasn't in love with her anymore.

It just happened that she was the only relationship that he actually enjoyed being a part of. He had dated loads of girls, and would probably be able to get anyone as fast as he put some effort into it, but he had never felt as happy as he was with Nance. When he was with her he felt like he knew everything about himself. What he wanted, and what he was looking for. Now.. he's not so sure anymore. He never felt happy in a relationship, and never found any of the girls he considered dating any interesting either. It made him so frustrated and sad at the same time.

He sighed and looked around. Ten minutes later, he payed for his groceries and left the building with two heavy bags in each hand, his eyes locked in the ground in front of him and his head hurting a little by all his heavy thinking.

"Of course I remember!" A girls voice was heard from afar, making Steve look up towards her as he placed his bags next to his car. Chrissy Cunningham? He bet it was Chrissy, cause she was still wearing her cheerleading clothes and that ponytail she was always wearing - high, and curly.

Steve watched her carefully as he opened the car door, starting to put in his bags as he realized who her company was, and his body froze for a couple of seconds.

Chrissy Cunningham with.. Eddie Munson?

Impossible.

It almost hurt looking at them joking around with each other, either of them having a single problem with the world at the moment and both of them very happy. Was Eddie really dating Chrissy?

No, that couldn't be. Steve knew that Chrissy was dating Jason the basketball leader. But he also knew that their relationship was the kind where they fight all the time, and break up and get together at least three times a week.

He looked at them with a numb face, rolled his lips into a thin line as he put in the last bag into the car and started feeling rain drops hitting the back of his head. He sighed high, ran around the car and sat down in the driver seat with a shaky jaw.

His heart felt achy for some reason, and he couldn't help but to glance over at Eddie and Chrissy one last time before he left the parking lot and started driving back home.

It really was them, laughing in the rain.