My favorite genre of Eddie: in the background, very pretty, doing absolutely nothing.
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Thinking about Steve and his reaction in moments of crisis when it comes to other people vs. his reaction in moments of crisis when it comes to Robin. In S1, he finds Nancy at the Byers's with a bandaged hand and, in his moment of worry for her, pushes the door open and barges in while asking if she's okay as he searches for answers for what happened. Or later, when, despite his own fear and worry, he rushes back inside to save Jonathan who is pinned underneath the demogorgon. It was arguably one of the scariest moments of his boring little high school kid life, and he still managed to take charge, do what he needed to, and help save the day.
We see these same instances again in S2. Steve was obviously worried about the safety of Max and Lucas and did not think twice about stepping up to bat against Billy. But when faced with the horrifying reality of what was about to unfold when Billy threw the first punch, and the sheer fact that he was the sole adult "in charge" of looking after keeping these kids safe, he had every reason to panic. To fold under the pressure and second guess himself. Yet he didn't. Not for a moment did he hesitate. Instead, he charged right back in there just like he did all those times before and did what he knew needed to be done. The same thing is seen later in the tunnels when Mike gets caught by the vines and can't get up. There's no hesitation from Steve. No moment of panic. Even though he's injured and unwell, even though he's once again in charge of keeping a group of hazardous and all too impulsive pre-teens safe, even though said pre-teens have drug him into an alternate dimension labyrinth from hell— he does not blink. Instead, he races in, takes out his bat, and gets to work on setting Mike free because that's just the kind of guy he is.
Yet with Robin... he doesn't do that.
When they're in the upside down!Creel House in S4 and Robin gets caught by the vines and thrown against the wall, she cries out for Steve but Steve doesn't respond because he's absolutely frozen in place. He's not saying anything. He's not moving. He's got an axe on him but he's not using it. He's not doing anything because he has completely shut down with fear, with panic, with this horrible realization suddenly screaming in his face that his best friend is in danger and in a matter of seconds, something very bad could happen and he could lose her forever.
And it's so unlike him. Steve from all those instances from before would have immediately started swinging that axe to free her. He would've been telling her to stay calm, that it's going to be okay, he'll get her free. He would have done whatever he needed to do simply because he felt it was his job to do it. But this time, he only seems to snap back to himself and get into gear long after Nancy has already gotten to work and she and Robin are screaming.
And it's all simply because it's Robin.
Because it's Robin and she is the best friend he's ever had. The only best friend he's ever had. Because she is Robin and she means the world to him and he probably loves her far more than he's ever loved anything or anyone before and it's terrifying.
He just got her, and yet she's his world, and he can't lose her because at this point, losing her would surely be like losing a part of himself and that fear... it's unlike anything he's ever experienced before and he hates it.
So he sits there, unmoving and shocked, doing nothing because the only thing worse than doing nothing to save her is trying everything to save her and that still not being enough. He holds the axe but doesn't swing because he's caught underneath the sudden crushing weight of just what she means to him and the suffocating panic of what losing her could be like. It's something that no monster he's fought, no high school asshole, no trouble the kids got into, no failing romance could ever have prepared him for.
But now Steve knows what real fear feels like.
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