Chapter Text
Theo sits in on the gym floor. Bored out of his mind. Where the hell is the teacher!? It’s the first day and they’re late. Of fucking course. Then, without warning, to his horror, his adopted father, Steve Harrington, walks in. The look on Theo’s face was shock mixed with anxiety. He quickly looked down at his shoes, suddenly noticing how interesting the designs Robin drew on them were.
”Alright class!” Steve called out to the group of kids. “I’m going to take attendance now, so say something,anything, when your name is called!” He started going down the list, and eventually got to Theo.
“Ah, Theo!” Steve lit up seeing the name, which made Theo damn near collapse from embarassment. The rest of the class giggled, and were muttering something about Theo being adopted and how embarrassing it must be for his dad to be a teacher.
“Okay guys, go change into your gym clothes,” Steve told the class. Theo’s eyes widened, and he seemed nervous to go change. He knew he couldn’t go change, he’d expose that he’s trans, which was frowned upon due to it being the 90’s and everything sucks if you’re LGBT. While everyone else went to go change, Theo awkwardly stood there, staying behind. Steve noticed and walked up to him.
”Hey bud,” He said softly. “What’s the problem? Why aren’t you going to go change with everyone else? What’s wrong?” Theo nervously fidgeted with the straps of his backpack.
”I don’t wana be stared at. I don’t like it. People staring at my back scar..and getting changed near others is icky and..I think you know,” Theo shyly muttered. Steve’s eyes softened.
“Hey kiddo, guess what?” He gently took ahold of Theo’s shoulder.
“Wh-what?” Theo responded nervously.
”I have a key to this bathroom right here,” He gestured to a door that was a few feet away. “Cmon I can unlock it for you, I set up an IEP for you so you can use this bathroom. I told ‘em about your back issues and they said it was okay that you use this bathroom.” Theo lit up a bit and followed Steve to the bathroom and walked in while Steve walked out and closed the door behind him.
Theo quickly got changed into his gym clothes and made sure his chest looked more ‘boyish’ before exiting. He felt a bit nervous as he walked out and began walking around the indoor track that was in the gym to warm up a bit.
Once everyone was out, warmups began. Running in laps, pushups, etc. Theo hated this, to him it was mideval torture.
Then every nerd’s worst nightmare happened.
Dodgeball.
Fear seeped into Theo’s body, and he began sweating as teams were chosen. He of course, was picked last, and was targeted. Some boys specifically were throwing balls as hard as they could at him, and he was pelted with them. Steve noticed this, blew his gym whistle, and walked over to the group of boys.
”I don’t appreciate you bullying the new kid, he just moved in yesterday, I don’t need you guys picking on him, he’s already stressed as is. I see you guys bothering him again, it’s detention. Got it?”
The boys begrudgingly agreed as they walked away and decided to keep playing. Steve then pat Theo on the shoulder. “Come see me after class, kiddo, okay?” Theo nodded, and then continued playing while Steve watched him closely to make sure he wasn’t being bullied again. When Theo got hit smack in the face with a dodgeball, Steve called a timeout to get Theo off the field before resuming the game.
”Oh my god, her nose is bleeding!” A girl exclaimed from across the gym.
Her? Fuck…I thought I was passing, Theo thought to himself. His face fell, and he sat there with his nose dripping blood, all down his clothes and on the floor. Steve looked up at the clock, and blew his whistle again. “Alright guys, go get changed back into your regular clothes, class is over in 10 minutes.” When the class left, he turned to Theo and sat next to him.
”Hey bud, what do you say after this class, I call up Robin and you can ditch the rest of today?” Theo looked intrigued at the offer and gratefully nodded.
”Yeah, I like Aunt Robin, she’s cool,” He stated with a small smile.
”Maybe Eddie’ll pick you up too?” He suggested. Theo nodded yet again. “Yeah, he’s cool. He said he’s gona talk to you about getting my ears peirced next week!” Theo excitedly grinned.
“If he knows where to go to do it, sure,” Steve said with a soft smile.
“Aw, thanks, Steve! You’re the best!”
”When are you gonna call me and Eddie ‘dad’?” Steve questioned teasingly, to which Theo shrugged. “I-..I dunno,” He replied, wiping his nose on his arm.
”Kid-don’t do that, that’s how you get blood everywhere. Go to the nurse, I’ll bring your stuff down while Robin’s on her way to come get you.”
Theo then walked down to the nurse, nose still dripping with blood. The nurse gasped when she saw him, immediately calling Steve’s desk phone.
”He already knows, he saw it happen,” Theo explained. “He sent me here. He said to call Robin to come get me.” His tone was blunt and straightforward.
“Oh, okay, just sit down on the chair and we’ll help your nose to stop bleeding, sweetie,” The nurse spoke, directing Theo to sit down before shoving a wad of tissues up his right nostril. Theo let out a yelp of discomfort when this happened, and a few tears spilled out.
”That hurt!” He cried, his lip quivering.
“Sorry, dear,” The nurse replied. “I didn’t think I was being that rough with you.” Steve then showed up to drop off Theo’s belongings, and gently tousled his hair. Thank god it’s common knowledge amongst the staff that he’s Theo’s adoptive dad, otherwise this just looks weird.
”Hey kiddo, how you feeling?” Steve asked.
Theo whimpered in reply, pointing to his nose.
“Aww, Kiddo..” Steve’s eyes softened as he crouched down. “Robin’s on her way right now, okay? She’s gona be here with Eddie in five minutes.” Theo nodded silently as Steve then turned and left. “See you at home, kiddo!”
Soon after, Eddie walked in, then seeing Theo.“Hey little dude, you ready to hang out with me and Robin?” Theo happily clapped his hands seeing Eddie, and picked his stuff up, following him to the car where Robin was sitting.
”Theo! How’re you-OH MY GOD!” She saw how messy Theo was. “Oh you poor thing, let’s get you cleaned up and changed into a new shirt.” She then climbed into the backseat and opened up Theo’s backpack, taking out his shirt from earlier, helping him change. Theo hugged Robin as she then grabbed some wipes and cleaned his face, removing the tissues and the last of the blood on his face.
“There we go, all clean,” She said with a soft smile before getting back into the front seat. Eddie soon got into the driver’s side and pulled the car out of the parking lot. Theo cracked his knuckles as he looked out the window.
“I-…I wana go see the fish,” He stated.
“Theo, that’s too far away,” Robin replied, trying to not upset him any further than he’d already been today. Theo made a sad noise in response, looking a bit upset at the news. “But, we can go see some at the pet store, they don’t have sharks, but they do have fish,” She continued. Theo looked up at the offer and nodded excitedly.
”Alright, pet store it is,” Eddie chuckled as he turned down a road leading to the pet store. Theo excitedly giggled. Pretty soon, they were at the pet store, and Robin had to grab his hand to prevent him from running off and getting lost.
“Robinnn! Leme go see the fish!” Theo whined. He tried to pull away from her, tugging away. Robin sighs as she takes the lead into the store, Eddie following behind.
”Can’t have you getting lost on us, Theo. You know Steve would kill both of us,” Eddie commented. Theo looked worried. “No-Not literally, bud. Don’t worry. It’s a figure of speech.” Theo looked upset.
”Just say what you mean,” He grumbled, fidgeting with his shorts pocket. “Figures of speech are really annoying.” Robin then gently lead Theo to the fish.
”Look kiddo, there’s the fish you wanted to see,” She softly remarked. Theo’s mood seemed to lift.
“Fish!” He excitedly exclaimed.
”He’s sure excited,” Eddie softly chuckled, seeing Theo flap his free hand and talk about how the fish were pretty and colorful.
“Yeah, they are colorful, aren’t they?” Robin softly responded, following his lead around the fish section while Eddie was softly laughing.
”Oh shove it, Munson!” Robin huffed as Theo was tugging her over to the beta fish.
“Aunt Robin! Look! It’s beta fish!” Theo excitedly squeaked. Robin gently ruffled his hair, smiling.
“I see that, Theo,” She softly smiled.
When they were done seeing fish, they drove back to Steve and Eddie’s place, where Eddie took Theo inside to get him some lunch.
“Ok kiddo, what do you want for lunch?” Eddie asked, looking at Theo with a grin.
”I dunno,” Theo mumbled, seemingly nervous about what he wanted to eat.
”How about you have some strawberries while you think about it?” Eddie suggested. Just as Theo was about to respond. Steve came home, holding Mcdonalds for the three of them.
“YAY! STEVE BROUGHT MCDONALDS!” Theo excitedly ran to Steve, reaching for his food.
”Woah, kiddo, wait a minute, let me put it down,” Steve said with a chuckle. When he put the food down, Theo happily grabbed his food and dived in. Eddie gave Steve a kiss on the cheek.
“Get off work early?” Eddie asked. Steve nodded and reciprocated the kiss to Eddie.
“Yeah, I had planning my last class so I just left,” He replied. “Besides, I had to see how our little guy was doing.”
“Well, I’m happy you’re here,” Eddie softly said to Steve, holding his hand. “Wana go on a date later and have Robin babysit?”
”I’d like that very much, Eddie,” Steve replied, holding his hand. The two watched as Theo then got up to go take a nap on the couch.
”Wana tell him?” Steve asked Eddie.
”We’ll tell him when he wakes up.”