Chapter Text
Becoming a cop wasn’t something that Steve had ever envisioned for himself, but he was really good at it. One thing he learned at the academy was that a lot of people became cops for the wrong reasons, and that’s why there were so many bad cops. They were either bullies in high school who wanted to keep bullying, or they had been bullied and wanted to have some sense of power. Oh, they all gave different reasons at the academy, of course--they wanted to keep the peace, wanted to protect and serve. But Steve found that he was one of the only people in his class who had actually wanted to protect and serve his community. And it made it...not easy, per se, but easier than he’d been afraid of. It helped that Hawkins was a quiet town (when it wasn’t being terrorized by a monster from another realm, obviously) and there was never any crime, but really he felt like he could handle just about anything thrown his way.
He just didn’t expect Jonathan Byers to be thrown his way.
.
Flo was constantly putting on a pot of coffee at the station, but it was shitty coffee, and no amount of cream and sugar could make Steve stomach it. So in the mornings, before he had to report for duty, he’d swing by Coffee on the Corner (a coffee shop literally located on the corner of Main and Carson) and get a sugary coffee and a muffin. He always finished the muffin in his car so that no one at the station would make fun of him, and if they asked about the drink, he’d just flippantly say he can’t wait that long for his morning caffeine.
He’d just gotten his coffee and muffin and was turning to leave the coffee shop when he caught sight of a familiar face sitting by the window.
It was Jonathan, and he was looking right at Steve.
Steve stood rooted to the spot for a moment; it wasn’t until a woman pointedly walked around him, huffing, that he realized he was standing stock-still in the middle of the coffee shop. He pasted a smile on his face and walked over to Jonathan’s table.
“Byers!”
“Hey, Steve.” Jonathan got up and made to shake his hand, but Steve’s hands were full of coffee and muffin, so he shoved his hands in his pockets. “How, uh, how are you?”
“I’m good,” Steve said way too brightly. “Really good.” He cleared his throat. “And...you? You’re...home for the summer?”
Jonathan nodded. “Yeah.” He hadn’t been around the summer before, which was maybe why Steve was so surprised to see him. Last summer, Jonathan had stayed in New York, doing some kind of internship. He’d come home for a few days here and there, mostly at holidays, but Steve hadn’t run into him those times, just heard about it from Hopper in passing. Hopper hadn’t said anything about Jonathan coming home this summer, though.
“Well,” Steve said after a moment. “I gotta go, but...it was really good seeing ya...buddy.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Steve walked as calmly as possible out of the coffee shop; as soon as he was in his car, he blew out a noisy breath.
He hadn’t really kept up with Jonathan and Nancy after November 1984. They’d tried so hard to be friends with him, and for a while, Steve had tried too--but in the end, he couldn’t handle it. Nancy was the first person he’d ever loved, and he was pretty sure that a little part of him was always going to be in love with her. He’d been happy she was happy, really, he just couldn’t stand to watch someone else make her happy. So he avoided them, conveniently had other plans whenever they invited him out, and gradually just faded from their lives. He’d gone to the police academy in Chicago after graduation, had ignored Nancy’s requests for his address and phone number so that they could keep in touch; by the time he came home, Jonathan and Nancy had given up on him.
He’d overheard from the kids not too long ago that Jonathan and Nancy had broken up. He hadn’t wanted them to think he still cared, especially when he’d spent so long convincing Dustin that the way to be cool was acting like you didn’t care, so he hadn’t asked. From what he’d gathered, it had been an amicable breakup--something about the distance between New York and Rhode Island and never being able to see each other. Steve had felt strangely empty at the news. He wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t upset, either.
He wasn’t happy or upset after running into Jonathan, but he definitely felt... something . He just couldn’t figure out what.
.
Steve went to Coffee on the Corner again the next day, and when he turned away from the counter, he saw Jonathan sitting at the same table by the window. He was looking at Steve again, and Steve found himself smiling and approaching his table. “You stalking me, Byers?”
“Maybe.” Jonathan smiled. “I’m just used to working in coffee shops is all--I didn’t realize this was your regularly scheduled coffee run.”
“You’re...working?”
Jonathan shrugged. “Sort of, yeah. On my senior capstone project.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Jonathan nodded, hands in his pockets. “Yeah, it’s this...photographic exploration,” he said. “But um, I have to write this huge essay for it and like...plot it all out and stuff.”
Steve’s heart started to beat faster. “So you’ll be here...every day?”
“Uh, I don’t know. Maybe.” Jonathan tilted his head. “Is that...okay?”
“What?” Steve could feel his forced smile getting too wide. “Of course it is. It’s...yeah, of course it’s okay.” He made an awkward jerking motion with his shoulder. “I gotta run again, but, hey, see you around.”
“Yeah, see you,” Jonathan echoed.
Steve walked out of the coffee shop, his heart hammering against his ribs.
.
He didn’t go to Coffee on the Corner the next morning, or the morning after that, or the morning after that. He knew he was being ridiculous, but it was just for one summer, right? He just had to grit his teeth and swallow that police station swill for a couple of months.
Except, his resolve was not that strong, and that police station swill was nasty , and after a couple of weeks, Steve broke down and found himself going to Coffee on the Corner again. Maybe, he thought on the ride over, Jonathan wouldn’t even be there anymore. Two weeks was more than enough time to plot out a capstone project, right?
Wrong. Jonathan was sitting in his usual window seat when Steve walked in. They shared an awkward wave as Steve went up to the counter.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” the barista commented.
“Uh, yeah,” Steve said, aware of how small the coffee shop was, and how easy it would be for Jonathan to listen to their conversation. “I’ve been uh, trying to cut back on the caffeine.”
She snorted. “The usual?”
“Yeah.”
When Steve had paid for his coffee and muffin and received both, he turned and headed for Jonathan’s table. “Hey,” he said weakly.
“You avoiding me?” Jonathan asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“No,” Steve lied.
Jonathan snorted. “Okay.”
Steve glanced around and then pulled up the seat across from Jonathan. “You make me nervous.” He said bluntly.
This was clearly not what Jonathan was expecting. “O-oh…?”
“I was incredibly shitty to you, and you’ve only ever been nice to me,” Steve said. “With the exception of that time you handed my ass to me, and let’s be real, I deserved that.”
Jonathan actually smiled. “You kind of did,” he admitted. “But...I don’t feel like I’ve been nice to you.” The smile disappeared. “I...slept with Nancy when you two were…”
Steve shrugged. “She was always more into you than she was to me.”
Jonathan looked dumbstruck. “You don’t…?”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, she ripped my heart out,” Steve said. “I just. I don’t know, I don’t hold it against you. Either of you.”
Jonathan’s mouth opened and closed.
Steve shrugged again. “Anyway, I’ve always been just...intimidated by you, I guess, and it’s just kinda hard seeing a guy who’s better than me in almost every way casually hanging out where I get my morning coffee, you know?”
“I’m not--” Jonathan tried to say, but Steve stood up.
“I have to go,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response, just beelined out the door. His heart was hammering again, but he felt weirdly okay about it. At least it was out in the open now, the things he’d been too afraid to say before and maybe the things he hadn’t even known he’d been afraid of until now.
.
Part of Steve was afraid that he’d scared off Jonathan, that the other guy would be so nice that he’d stop frequenting Coffee on the Corner so that Steve didn’t have to see him or some shit. Steve may have been intimidated by Jonathan, but he didn’t want him to feel unwelcome in the only decent coffee shop in Hawkins.
So he was relieved when he did see Jonathan the next morning, sitting in his usual window seat. He waved at Jonathan, and Jonathan waved back, and Steve ordered his usual coffee and muffin. When he had both, he headed for Jonathan’s table.
“I was afraid I scared you off,” he admitted.
“Eh, it takes a lot to scare me,” Jonathan said with a small smile. He hesitated. “If it makes you uncomfortable--”
Steve shook his head. “I’m in here for five minutes a day, tops,” he said. “Please, keep doing your thing.”
Jonathan didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure. Besides, this is the only place in this town that serves decent coffee.”
Jonathan smiled. “Yeah, I’ve picked up on that.”
“Yeah.” Steve could only imagine how many coffee shops were around NYU, how paltry this must all seem to Jonathan. “Well…”
“I know--you’ve gotta go,” Jonathan said with a wry smile. “See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Steve said again. “Tomorrow.”
.
They kept it up for a little over a week, chatting for a few minutes every morning when Steve went to get his morning coffee and muffin. Steve got to be more and more comfortable with it, and maybe he was just projecting, but it felt like Jonathan was, too.
And then Steve realized that he actually liked talking to Jonathan, even if he couldn’t stand how freaking nice the other guy was. Jonathan was interesting . And he seemed interested in the things Steve had to say, even though Steve didn’t think his life was interesting at all. He was a small-town cop whose only friends were a bunch of teenagers who played Dungeons and Dragons. Jonathan...Jonathan was studying photography at NYU. He was smart. An intellectual. He felt sort of flattered that Jonathan was even talking to him at all. He probably had way more interesting discussions with people in New York, conversations about music and art and literature or whatever it is students at NYU talked about.
And one morning Steve found himself getting to the coffee shop a little earlier because honestly, he was just really looking forward to talking to Jonathan. And Jonathan was there, at his usual table, and when he looked up at Steve he smiled, and Steve just felt his whole entire body smiling.
And that was when he realized that maybe he liked Jonathan a lot more than he’d originally thought.
“I don’t know, he’s...cool,” Steve said when he was over at Dustin’s that night. The Hendersons had him over frequently, and it had become a rule that whoever cooked got to watch TV while the other person or people washed dishes. Since Claudia almost always cooked, Steve almost always ended up washing dishes. That was fine with him, because Claudia was a better cook than he was and he liked showing his appreciation of her. Dustin usually ended up helping Claudia cook and helping Steve wash dishes, and that’s what he was doing tonight.
“He slept with Nancy while you two were still together.” Dustin pointed out.
“Nancy and I were fighting.” he countered. “And anyway, I wasn’t exactly the world’s greatest boyfriend.”
“You’re defending them?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” Steve said. “I thought you liked Nancy and Jonathan.”
Dustin shrugged. “I do, but I still think it was kinda shitty that they slept together when you guys hadn’t even officially broken up.”
“Okay...pretending that didn’t happen,” Steve said, tossing the dish rag over his shoulder. “I just think he’s cool, okay?”
“He’s definitely cool.” Dustin agreed. “Have you seen his stuff? I never got why photography was an art form until Will showed me some of his pieces. They’re like, super thought-provoking.”
“Yeah, I bet.” Steve hesitated. “What...happened with him and Nancy, anyway? Do you know?”
“I thought you didn’t care about him and Nancy.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Can you just drop it?”
“I don’t know what happened.” Dustin said. “I think it was a long distance thing. But you should just ask Jonathan since you guys are so close now.”
Steve rolled his eyes again.
“Why do you care?”
Steve shrugged. “I don’t know...I feel like it’s almost...easier to like him now that he isn’t with Nancy. And I guess I just want to know that it’s like...a permanent breakup and not just them taking a break, you know?”
Dustin nodded in understanding. “Well, it sounds pretty permanent,” he offered. “But you should really talk to Jonathan.”
“What are you boys talking about in there?” Claudia called from the living room.
“Jonathan Byers,” Dustin shouted back.
“Oh? How is he?”
Dustin smirked at Steve. “Apparently he’s cool .”
“You are such a shithead. Steve hissed.
.
Even though he knew Dustin was right, Steve didn’t bring up Nancy. Instead, he asked questions about NYU and Jonathan’s capstone project.
“It’s based on the idea that like...people act like their true selves when they don’t think anyone’s looking,” Jonathan explained over their morning coffee. “It’s like…you can ask someone to describe themselves, but they’re giving you, like, this projection of who they think they are or who they want to be. But when they’re not thinking about this self-constructed image of themselves...that’s when you see who they really are.”
“A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Steve quipped.
Jonathan grinned. “Exactly.”
“So, you’re taking pictures of people when they don’t realize you are.” Steve surmised.
“Theoretically,” Jonathan said. “The only problem is that these photos will be displayed for public consumption, so people have to sign releases and understand the nature of the photos, so it kind of...ruins the spirit.”
Steve considered this. “And that’s what’s giving you trouble?”
Jonathan shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, my family gave me permission to photograph them whenever, but I can only photograph them so many times, you know? And then it’d become a piece about my family, when I want it to be about...all sorts of people.”
Steve nodded. “So...what’s your plan?”
“I don’t...really have one,” Jonathan admitted. “I thought about just taking the photos and asking the subjects to sign releases later and not use photos that people didn’t agree to, but the fact that I took photos without initial consent is still...unethical.”
Steve couldn’t help remembering the photos Jonathan had taken of Nancy that night--and the camera he had bought and shyly asked Nancy to give to Jonathan for Christmas. He was sure that Jonathan was thinking of those things too. Or at least, he was thinking about the pictures he’d taken of Nancy. Steve still didn’t know if Jonathan knew that he was the one who’d bought the camera and not Nancy, and he wasn’t about to ask.
“What if you got permission, but didn’t tell them when or where?” Steve asked. “Or like...if you went to an event where people know they might be photographed but aren’t necessarily posing, and then after you can ask permission to use the photos for your project?”
“That could work,” Jonathan said slowly. “But...what kind of event?”
Steve shrugged. “Picnics, weddings, birthday parties.”
“You’re assuming I ever go to those things.” Jonathan said with a small smile.
“What, do intellectuals not have social lives?”
Jonathan looked as if he was trying not to smile. “I’m hardly an intellectual, and anyway, it’s not that, it’s just...I’m not very popular.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “Not with that attitude.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Look, there’s gonna be this like...cookout that the police and the fire department have every year. It’s in a week. Why don’t you come to that one and take some test pictures? See how it goes?”
Jonathan considered his offer. “I don’t know...I don’t even think Hopper is planning to go.”
“So go with me,” Steve said. “You can be my hot date.”
They both laughed, and something unrecognizable twisted in Steve’s gut. God, why was he acting like this ?
He took another sip of his coffee. “Well,” he said, “It’s about time for me to head out, but...think about it, okay?”
“Okay,” Jonathan agreed. “I’ll think about it.”
Steve gave him a two-fingered salute and headed out the coffee shop, hoping, wildly, that Jonathan would say yes.