The Night It Happened (Request)

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/41911320.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: Major Character Death
Category: Gen
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Relationship: Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Dustin
Henderson
Character: Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, Claudia
Henderson
Additional Tags: eddie is dead in this one, Sorry guys, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional
Hurt/Comfort, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Brotherly
Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Platonic Relationships, Platonic
Soulmates
Language: English
Series: Part 15 of Stranger Things One Shots
Stats: Published: 2022-09-24 Words: 1518

The Night It Happened (Request)

by miss_little_kitten

Summary

Set directly after they returned from the upside down. This sort of fills a request I had for
like a lavender marriage between the two, but I like the concept of them just being like each
other's person. I was in a car accident four ish years ago with a close friend and when we
were cleaning up he sang the rubber duck song to me and I had to include that. Also, you
can't convince me Steve isn't the type fo guy to wash someone's hair, like you cannot
convince me otherwise.

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

Nancy found her mom and dad first, Karen informing the kids to come back if they needed too.
Currently Steve’s number one concern was Dustin, he searched for his mother. Dustin’s mom,
despite the back often she was oblivious, would come for him.

“Steve!” Claudia is yelling as soon as she spots them, Dustin still crying on his back, head hiding.

“Mrs. Henderson!” He shouts back, he’d run ahead, but he’d jostle Dustin who had finally dimmed
it down to soft sobs.

“Oh Dusty. Baby.” She was trying to take him from Steve, but he held on tighter.
“Hey, let’s go over to the paramedics.” Steve suggested lightly to Claudia, who nodded in
agreement.

“Is he hurt?”

“His leg is a bit.” Steve could feel his own blood being on Dustin’s leg as well, he was still
wearing Eddie’s vest.

“Oh baby, mommy’s here.” How she said it broke Steve’s heart as they walked towards the
ambulance.

“Okay, here we go.” Steve said quietly to Dustin, “can you get off?”

“Don’t leave.” Dustin was crying again.

“I can’t stay with you for this part, your mom is here.” He turned to Claudia for just one moment,
“can you give us a second.” He said gently to her.

“Of course.” She walked away briefly with Robin, Steve managed to get Dustin on a stretcher.

“You can’t leave me too.” Fresh tears were spilling over Dustins face, the EMT looked confused
as they began taking a blood pressure. Steve held him close for a moment, feeling him on his chest.

“I’m not. I’m not leaving you. I’m coming back to you, you have to get your ankle looked at.”
Steve said it in a soft tone.

“You are. You will.”

“No, no. I’m going to go home and shower and I’ll see you first thing okay?”

“Please, just stay with me.”

“A lot of people are hurt Bub, too many people for me to be in the mess. You’ll be okay. I
promise.”

“I can call when I get home?”

“You can walkie me or you can call the house okay?”

“You aren’t leaving me.” Dustin said it more to himself.

“Never, you’ll never get rid of me.” He kissed Dustin’s hair, his gross sweaty, bloody hair, but it
was his little brother, he couldn’t just leave him.

“Never. I love you.” Dustin looks up at him finally.

“I love you too.” Dustin looks heart broken, but Steve has to make sure everyone else is okay.

“I’ll talk to you soon.” Steve whispers to him before waving Claudia back over.

“Baby, I’m here.” Steve can hear as he turns away, walking some before he felt an arm on his.

“Stevie.” Robin’s eyes are tense looking at him, he had somehow forgotten Robin in all of this. He
felt numb.

“Robs.” He looks at her, she reaches her hand towards him and he lets her, not moving as he
typically does when one of them gets near them.

“We should get your, well everything, looked at.”

“You got strangled.”

“You did too.” They’re looking at one an other tensely, the sirens going on around them, the entire
world feeling as if it’s falling apart.

“You aren’t going to get medical care are you?”

“No, my place?” He asks her, last time her parents didn’t come after StarCourt, why would they
now? He took her home last time.

“Your place.” She agrees with him, their hands slide into one an other’s calming each other down.
Grounding one an other. They duck in and out of people, the two of them just holding onto one
another. They get in his car, he looks at an ambulance, like the one they took Max out in earlier.
His Max, his little sister, he wants to cry, but instead starts the car and starts driving. He doesn’t
say anything, they turn off the radio, deciding it wasn’t worth risking hearing a song that would
make both of them cry or lose their composure. The silence is nice, like it was normal almost, they
had each other.

“We’re here.” Steve says, looking straight into the empty house, but it was safe.

“Yeah.” Robin sounds lost, he squeezes her hand again as they enter the house, only stopping to
grab his bat.

“Perimeter check?” He asks her, looking at her. They typically split up, but they definitely weren’t
going to today. Hands intertwined yet, they walked into every room of the house, leaving where
Steve slept for last. Robin looked in Max’s room for him. The two stood in his room finally and
she laughed a little bit.

“You have blood in your hair.” She laughed, a smile breaking on her face a bit.

“Oh, what ever will I do.” He smiled back at her, “come on, you have blood in yours, let’s clean
up.” He sounded like he always did with the kids, not demanding but more of a gentle suggestion.
She nodded along with the idea. Stripping as he walked to draw the water in the bath for her. She
startles him as she enters the bathroom.

“It’s too quiet.” She says to him. He hands her a bathrobe before nodding.

“You want me to put on music?” He offers her, she shakes her head.

“Can you just sit with me? Talk with me?” She’s sliding into the tub, they’ve done this before,
typically drunk or one will shower while the other gets ready, but he sits on the floor as they both
watch the water. It’s Steve who breaks the silence around them.

“When I was little I used to collect, like rubber duckies, and I’d have them all lined up on the edge
of the tub here,” he shows where he used to line them up, “and I’d knock them all in at once as fast
possible. I’d do the same at the poolside. I just loved the big splash. I doubt my mother did.” He
laughs a little.

“What’s she like? I’ve only met her once.”

“She’s… well there’s two people I guess when I think of her. When I was little I looked up to her
and she was just this amazing mother, now she probably won’t even call with the news of the
earthquake.” Steve says.

“My parents live in town and didn’t even come.”

“You told them you were seeing Vickie though, they probably think you’re safe.” She nods at him,
the phone lines seemed wonky as they drove.

“So what was she like? Give me a fun memory.” She says, Steve is tipping her head back, pouring
the warm water through her hair. She can’t imagine what the what must look like.

“We used to sing and dance to Elvis in the living room.” Steve’s laughing some, he can picture her.
He’s putting expensive shampoo in her hair and her eyes are closed, she draws her knees up to her
chest.

“I’m sorry. About tonight.” She whispers, he’s still scraping grime out of her hair.

“You did great. You didn’t fall on your ass right away.”

“I was so scared.” She confessed to him.

“I was too.”

“I still am.” Her voice breaks some, she can feel the water going through her hair again.

“I am too.” He says, voice wavering.

“I can sleep here tonight right?” She asks, feeling tears down her cheeks. She opens her eyes as he
puts conditioner in her hair, she knows he will make her wait to wash it out. He has tear streaks too.

“You can every night you know that.” She reaches her hand out of the water to hold his on the edge
of the tub. He’s picturing all his rubber ducks his dad threw out, he’s picturing how much fun he
used to have. He’s looking at her small hand in his and the fact they both just fought the same
demon from Hell. No one else will ever understand what they’ve been through together.

“Rubber duckie you’re the one.” Robin says through her tears. Steve let’s out a wet laugh.

“You make bath time lots of fun.” Steve sings wetly back.

“Better not be coming for Tammy Thompson’s place now, with that lovely singing.” They’re both
laughing, wet, tearful laughs. They finally meet one an other’s eyes.

“I love you Robin. Not like I want to sleep with you, but I love you.” He means it, he means it so
much and she’s nodding.

“Platonic with a capital P.” She says, this is what a soulmate is.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He admits to her, because he wouldn’t. Who the hell else will
be with him through actual Hell and still sing some stupid rubber duck song?

“I love you too.” She says seriously, he smiles at her.

“Okay, head back, let’s get the conditioner out then you need to scrub the… whatever the hell this
is, off your body.” He laughs some. She looks to see the water slightly discolored.

“Probably going to need a shower too.” She laughs some. Life was going to change but this wasn’t,
 this was both of their constants.

End Notes

I am still taking requests! Feel free to ask or remind me if I didn't post yours yet! The one
shots don't all connect so it's okay to request different things!

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