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What is Steve Harrington's deal?
Despite all the many life-or-death scenarios that they have both been under, one way or another, Will never really got around knowing Steve. Sure, back in ‘83, he was sort of involved in the whole Upside Down madness, but Will wasn't actually there to see it. And when Dustin and Steve became friends — which, what the hell, sure — he was too busy being the Mindflayer’s receptacle and all.
They must've spoken a couple of words to each other after that, especially when Steve started working at Scoop's Ahoy, but, frankly, Will doesn't even remember it.
Because of that, the list of things he knows about Steve Harrington is quite short. He was Nancy's boyfriend at some point, that much he's sure, although he has no idea why they broke up — just that Jonathan and her got together right after. And he was really popular, which proved itself to be useless as soon as he graduated and started to work for a minimum wage and wear a ridiculous costume. He has also never won a fight. At least, that's how Dustin likes to tell it, because, apparently, even Jonathan has beat him up once. Will has tried to bring it up with his brother, but another thing about Steve is that he and Jonathan hate each other.
And, apparently, he's an ally.
Sorry, let Will rephrase that. Steve Harrington is aware that gay people exist — and he has nothing against them. Which is just absurd.
Will's brain is stuck on that and refuses to let go. Steve's an ally.
See, he has nothing against Steve. All things considered, he's a great guy — he taught El how to do her hair for the Snowball Dance, let them sneak into the movie theater multiple times, and drove them around when asked to. A surprising altruism that, according to Joyce, his father did not have. But he is Steve Harrington, nonetheless. So forgive Will if he's having a hard time believing that Robin felt comfortable enough to come out to him. And that Steve just… didn't care. Better yet, tried his best to wingman her and Vickie together. And it worked.
Could he do the same for Mike and Will?
Well, no. That's ridiculous. Steve's best friends with Robin. He's at best acquaintances with Will — coworkers.
But that does spark a different idea: Should he tell Steve about his sexuality?
There's no reason not to. Not only does he not care about gay people, he doesn't really care about Will, either. Will being gay would change nothing in Steve Harrington's life. There's no pressure like there'd be with anyone else.
God, he loves Jonathan and their mom, but they would make a huge deal out of it. Not that Will wouldn't appreciate it — he would, and he will — but he wants to test the waters first, taste how the words feel in his mouth before he fully commits to them.
Low-stakes, high rewards. Right now, he wants to come out to Steve.
The kitchen's door shuts closed with a low thud as Dustin walks out of the room. Will's heart starts beating faster, and his head turns to the side. Now. Do it now.
“Steve?”
Immediately, Steve turns back to him. “What's up?” he asks, a hint of worry in his voice.
Will hesitates. Obviously, Steve has automatically jumped to the conclusion that something's wrong. That's fair enough. These days, Will mostly has bad news to share. He'll just… approach it lightly. He'd like to think of it as good news this time around. Sort of.
“You're close with Robin, right?” he asks, working his way around the real question. “Like, best friends?”
Steve frowns. “Did Henderson tell you to ask that? You know, I'm allowed to have more than one best friend, I thought we sealed that already.”
“Uhm… no. He didn't. I'm just curious, that's all.”
That only seems to make Steve grow more confused, but he goes along with it. “Well, I mean — yeah, definitely. We're best friends. Just don't tell her I said that.”
There is a beat of silence before he speaks again. “Why do you ask?”
“It's just…” Will starts. “She's lucky to have a friend like you. Someone who she can share everything with. Anything.”
“Right. Like what, exactly?”
Will is already breaking eye contact by now, which probably isn't a good way to start, but he's, like, three sentences away from coming out, anyway. And even if there is a set of rules for this, he's already broken most of them by doing it during the apocalypse to his sister-in-law’s ex boyfriend. Or his brother's sworn enemy. Or Mike's ex brother-in-law.
Jesus, should he be doing this?
He shakes his head. Now or never. “Like… how she's different.”
Steve's eyebrows are pinched together as he takes in the implication. He glances around the room, checking if they're truly alone, before he leans in to Will. “Is this about her and Vickie?” he asks cautiously. “She told me you saw them together. They're just friends. Good friends. If you have any problems with that, then…”
“No!” Will interrupts, holding up his arms. “No. No, I'm sorry. Not what I meant. I don't… Robin, she's great. So is Vickie. I think. We haven't met yet.”
“But it's cool,” he continues, failing to smoothly transition into what he actually wants to say, stumbling around his words. “That she has a friend like Vickie. Because, you know, they're both… different.”
“I'm not following, Byers,” Steve says, clueless as ever.
“We were talking — Robin and I, I mean. She told me you didn't mind that she's different.”
“I don't.”
“Right,” Will nods, working up the courage. “That’s why I wanted to tell you that I… I—” he took a deep breath, staring at his own feet, “I'm also different. Like she is. Well, not like she is, technically. I don't…”
His voice fails. “I don't like girls.” Will risks a glance at Steve's face. “Not like she does.”
“Oh.”
That's not a slur, so, Will would say this is going well. It's hard to know when Steve's expression is stuck in place, precessing his reveal. Does he think Will's a misogynist? He doesn't hate women. He likes them rather than he does men, really, just strictly platonically. Believe him, he's tried.
“Okay, cool. That's really cool, man,” Steve finally manages, nodding as he speaks. “Does anyone else know?”
“Robin figured it out. I don't think I'm great at hiding it,” he admits, feeling a lot lighter. Steve's cool with it. It's cool. “Jonathan probably knows already, I think. Maybe mom. You're the first one I'm telling, though.”
“I'm the—” Steve's mouth turns into a grin. “You told me before you told Jonathan?”
Will twists his head. “Well, yes?”
Out of all the reactions Will had prepared himself for when he'd first come out — a hug from Jonathan, tears from his mom, hopefully an enamored smile from Mike, straight out of a fantasy — he certainly wasn't expecting Steve to be beaming.
His lips are still curled up when he speaks again. “That's amazing. I'm proud of you, really, I am, man. I'm glad you told me.”
It's stupid, because Will isn't sure when his vision started to blur. “You are?”
Steve's smile softens. “Of course.”
He takes a step closer to Will, wrapping his arms around him. “You're a great kid, Will,” he says. Will hesitates before hugging him back, leaning his head into his shoulder. “I don't know where you got it from, ‘cause Jonathan definitely didn't.”
Will chokes out a laugh. “Shut up.”
“I'm serious.” Steve leans back to look at him, holding Will by his shoulders. “You're amazing, kid. This doesn't change that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
They stay there in a comfortable silence before Will breaks the quiet. “Is this how you reacted to Robin?”
Steve snorts. “Not in the slightest. It's kinda embarrassing, but since we're here sharing, I was actually asking her out.”
“No way.”
“Feels like forever ago, but yeah." Steve cringes at the memory. "Then she told me about her crush on Tammy Thompson—”
"Tone-deaf Tammy,” Will provides.
“Yes, thank you.”
“So what did you say?”
“Exactly that.”
Will frowns. “Exactly what?”
“I made fun of her.”
“Of Robin?”
“No, dude, Tammy." Steve pitches his voice high, mocking. "She sounds like a muppet.”
“Robin told you she likes girls and you… made fun of her taste in women?”
It's not as bad as he's making it out to be — probably took the pressure off Robin's shoulders. They were also high out of their minds, which must count for something. Will wishes he had the same truth-serum as Robin did, but this is working out just fine without it.
“You know,” Will prompts with a shrug, “You'd probably not approve of my taste either.”
“You mean—” Steve gestures vaguely. “Your taste in men?”
“Yes, Steve. I thought that was implied.”
“It is, sorry. Who is it?” He interrupts himself. “No, wait, let me guess. I'm great at these things. I wanna say… Sinclair?”
“Lucas?” Will repeats, amused. “No, why… why would it be Lucas?”
“C'mon, the kid's a catch. You're both friends. Grew up together and whatnot. It's natural.”
“I don't just fall in love with any guy I'm close with, Steve.”
Steve nods. “Of course. But he's not just any guy.”
“Well, he's not the guy.”
Besides, Will would like to add. Lucas has a girlfriend. He doesn't voice his thoughts, though, as they'd directly contradict what he's about to say.
“It's… Mike.”
Mike, who has a girlfriend — had a girlfriend, sure, but who's probably desperate to get her back.
Mike, who likes girls. Definitely.
“He's just a stupid crush,” he adds. “I know I don't have a shot.”
“Wheeler?” Steve sounds almost displeased. “Really? Mike Wheeler?”
“I know, he's—”
“An idiot, yes.” Not what Will was about to say, but whatever. Correcting him would imply he's wrong and, is he? Short answer, no. “Lift your head up, man. Why do you think you don't have a shot?”
“I don't know, because he's straight?”
Steve lets out a laugh. “Right, Wheeler's straight. Funny.” He grins, waiting for Will to join in, but it doesn’t come. Will just stares. Steve's smile falters. “Wait, you're serious?”
“Yes?”
“Dude, no. He's crazy about you. Mad crazy. Wasn't he calling you magic, like, yesterday? That's flirting 101.”
“We're friends,” Will insists. “He was just… excited. Everyone was.”
“No, you and Henderson are friends. Wheeler? There's something more sinister going on with him.”
“Sinister?”
“Mysterious.”
Will shakes his head, dismissing the idea in its wake. “I tried flirting with him, okay? He didn't reciprocate.”
“You did?” Steve's taken aback for a second. “How?”
“I shoved his shoulder. Robin told me I'm supposed to send signals like that — bump of the elbow, shared looks…” he explains. “But Mike just walked away.”
“Uh-huh, okay.”
Steve places his hands over his hips, pondering. “So, you're telling me you flirted with Mike, and he was so embarrassed he ran away?”
“Yeah—” Will blinks. “No. That's a… that's not what I said.”
“Sure sounds like it.”
“Look, Mike's my friend. Best friend. I think I'd know if he likes guys.” Will shuts it down. “Besides, it doesn't matter. Mike — he's just my Tammy. It's not about him, it's about me, right? He was just the push I needed to understand how I feel.”
“He's your what now?”
“My Tammy,” Will states it like it's obvious. “Like in Robin's story. The hopeless crush that made me realize I like guys.”
Steve stares, mouth agape. “Oh, no. No, no, no. You are not doing this. Tammy Thompson was just a random girl. Robin didn't actually know her, okay? Wheeler is a real idiot who follows you around like a lost puppy and calls you a sorcerer.”
“He doesn't.”
“He does, and I've never seen anything more clearly in my life. I'm having an epiphany, little Byers.”
Steve points a finger at him, the epiphany fully formed. “Okay, better plan. You need to talk to him. For real. No shoulder shoving.”
“I can't,” Will says, the humor draining from his face, replaced by a quiet resolve. Telling Mike how he feels would be a disaster — exactly like Vecna has shown him earlier. It would ruin the last remains of their friendship, and Will already has so little to lose. “Not about that, at least. I've actually decided something else, about all of this.”
“Yeah? What's that?”
“I'm going to tell everyone. Today. Just… get it over with. So it's out there.”
Steve's confident posture falters. “Wait, like, everyone everyone? Hopper, Murray, Kali? You barely know half of these people.”
“The truth should be out. All the way,” Will says, lifting his chin. “If everyone knows, then… then he can’t use it against me. It loses its power.”
Steve’s face softens into something painfully understanding. He steps closer, holding Will's shoulder. “Will, hey. Vecna can only use it against you if you let him, okay? If you think it’s a weapon. But it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with you, man. You don’t have to share that part of yourself with over fifteen people just to prove that.”
Will looks down, unsure. “So, what? I just don’t tell anyone?”
“No, you tell someone, but you start small. Tell Jonathan. Tell your real friends. Maybe,” he adds, “you mention how you came out to me first. It'll help my reputation as the cool, trustworthy one. Jonathan will be furious, which is wonderful. For me, at least.”
A grateful smile appears on Will’s trembling lips. Maybe Steve's right. He shouldn't force himself to come out to people who don't care about him. Telling Jonathan, telling his friends — it feels less like a battle plan and more like a choice.
“But what do I know?” Steve shrugs, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just the guy who's friends with all the gay people in town.”
“Now,” he says, clapping his hands together, changing the subject. “About the Wheeler situation. We’re gonna need a better signal than assault…”
Will rolls his eyes, but the tension has broken.
Steve Harrington knows Will is gay and he doesn't mind. And if that can happen, frankly, anything is possible.