House, Not home | Harringrove

A very shitty holiday

Steve zips his coat even more. Although it doesn't seem possible, it shifts upward a few centimeters, covering his nose. The cold wind passes by him and Dustin, making the smaller boy curse angrily.

"Why does it have to be so cold!?" He shouts, leaving Steve laughing. Steve begins rolling the next snowball for their snowman while Dustin ducks behind the large base to hide from the chill.

They're in Steve's backyard, attempting to add some spirit to the house. It's already Christmas eve and even though Steve insisted it was too late to decorate, Dustin got to work with him.

Steve places the medium-sized snowball onto the base, and Dustin begins rolling the final section. "I'll go grab the accessories," Steve says, finding any reason to go inside for a few minutes.

Dustin calls after him, but Steve pretends he doesn't hear him over the wind, closing the door behind him. He ventures inside. Making his way down the hall towards the kitchen. He digs around in the fridge, which is nearly empty and grabs the bag of carrots he bought just for their snowman. Grabbing whatever he can find for the eyes and mouth, then grabbing a hat and a scarf, Steve returns to the icy outdoors.

"What's all that?" Dustin asks with a confused expression on his face, pointing at the assortment of small objects Steve grabbed.

"It's for the face, Henderson," Steve says bluntly.

"We can't use white ping pong balls, sticks of gum, and... what is that Steve?" The younger boy crinkles his nose in confusion and possibly disgust.

"We're using it unless you want to dig around for rocks."

Dustin grumbles and they begin decorating the tall structure. As they back away to assess, a smirk appears on Steve's face, and Dustin holds back a laugh. They exchange a glance and start chortling uncontrollably, laughing at how creepy the snowman appears.

"Alright I'm freezing my ass off, let's go," Dustin exclaims and begins charging towards the house, followed by Steve.

The two boys make hot chocolate, Dustin putting whipped cream on his cup until the container is empty. He wanders to the fridge and furrows his brows.

"Steve, do you live off whipped cream, mustard, bread, coke, and ham?"

Steve snorts, "No. Just haven't been grocery shopping in a while," He ruffles Dustin's hair, seeing the contents of his fridge. When had he eaten last? Everything seems to merge together these days.

Dustin shrugs, wandering to the couch. Steve begins writing a grocery list, jotting down a few extra things so he could have his own small Christmas dinner. He wonders what Billy is up to for Christmas. Probably family stuff with Max and their parents... or step-parents? Steve doesn't know much about them.

Steve glances over at the couch, expecting to see Dustins wild hat hair. The couch is empty. "Dustin?" Steve calls, glancing around.

Suddenly, Dustin bursts through the door with the bat in his hands, yelling like a maniac. Steve jumps out of his seat at lightning speed, a yell escaping his own lips. Dustin starts laughing, and Steve looks at him funny, his heart racing.

"You should've seen your face!"

Steve glares at him, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Why do you still have this thing? We closed the gate."

The brunette can't answer this question, because he's not so sure himself. Power.

"I dunno, it'd be a bit weird if I had a blood-covered bat in my garbage and someone saw it." He says with a light chuckle, hoping Dustin would shove off it.