House, Not home | Harringrove

Happy New Year, Billy

"Steve, you know it's not normal for a high school senior to be doing nothing on New Year's Eve, right?" Dustin sputters. Steve had just broken the news to him that the kids could come over for the night to watch the countdown.

"The hell are you talking about? I'm not doing nothing... I'm just being selective of my activities," Steve argues back.

He's aware that the majority of high school students wouldn't be spending their time with middle schoolers, but it doesn't bother him too much. Or at least he tries not to let it bother him too much. Sometimes he feels like a total loser. He feels like someone he would have picked on a year ago. It's not exactly that he has nowhere to go tonight, Billy invited him to what he claimed would be "a rager", but Steve isn't sure if he feels like going.

Dustin begins to argue again but Steve shushes him to go answer a knock at the door. He turns the handle and Mike and Lucas are already pushing their way in like turkeys who run too close together and run out of air.

"We've got snacks!" Mike cheers, unloading a large plastic bag with stretching, nearly broken handles onto the counter. Dustin exclaims excitedly and Lucas and Mike babble about their snack choices.

Steve glances out the window. Billy said he'd come by at 10 to see if Steve had changed his mind. Steve still has a few hours till then. "Have you guys had dinner yet?"

"No, and we're starving," Lucas whines, drawing out the 'ing'.

"Yeah, we're starving," the other boys say in unison, looking up at Steve like dogs under a dinner table.

Harrington gives them a grin, already certain of what they'll ask for. "Pizza?"

The cheering tells him it's a yes. Dustin knows the drill already and tears around the corner to the main house phone to make the order. "Make sure to get enough for Max and El, too!" Steve calls. Although he already knows Dustin will order enough for a small army.

As if on queue, Max and El come wandering into the kitchen. El doesn't have a strong habit of knocking yet.

Mike blushes profusely at the sight of El, almost as if he didn't see her every day. Steve wonders if he ever looked at Nancy like that, or if Nancy ever really looked at him like that?

He doubts it. El and Mike have a far stronger connection than Steve and Nancy had, probably better than Steve's parents too. Max and Lucas chatter away while Mike and El whisper by the sink. How did Steve end up being the third wheel? This is some bullshit.

The brunette wanders upstairs to shower before the pizza arrives. He figures he might as well find a way to relax before the kids go sugar high.

After relishing in the hot water and steam, Steve gets out of the shower. He feels the rush of cool air and snatches his towel to use as some sort of protection against the temperature change.

Steve's least favorite part of showering is the interaction. He and his reflection. The two of them staring each other down. He studies his profile, scanning his torso. He doesn't remember being this thin. It's not that he's terribly underweight, he's just far less muscular and his ribs poke out slightly. He traces his fingers along with them, feeling the edges as though they're speed bumps on the road. Even his hands and his arms have thinned. His fingers are finer and more feminine than before.

Sometimes he feels like the frame of who he used to be.

Steve dresses slowly, blue jeans, and a deep green button-down with a few of the top buttons undone to give it a more casual feel. He pulls on socks in case he might need to wear shoes. Not that he's planning on accompanying Billy to the party. No way.