The babysitters club|| Steve Harrington

13

"He's stress licking" Robin flicked his ear. "Stop stress licking"

Matteo stuck his tongue out at her. "We are currently planning to break into a super secret Russian base, I ghosted someone last night and my zia Nicole won't pick up her phone so I'm going to have to go over there in my lunch break. I think I've earned the right to be stress licking"

He continued to glare at her and licking his brownie ice cream.

"Try the USS Butterscotch" Steve groaned. "Much better for stress licking"

Matteo admired how quickly Steve had gotten used to both Robin and his antics. He didn't even question what stress licking was, why he had a history of stress licking ice cream and lollipops or why he was pacing in a weird dance sort of way.

"What do you mean your aunt won't pick up the phone?" Robin asked instead, "Didn't your mom go over to hers yesterday?"

"Yeah, and she hasn't called once, which obviously means something happened to her"

"Calm your tits, DeAngelo" Steve leaned back in his chair, hand ruffling through his hair. "I'm sure your mom is fine, it's just been a day"

"Oh you don't know his mom" Robin swung her feet. She was sitting on the counter in the back of the Scoops Ahoy. It was barely ten in the morning so their usual evening crowd was definitely hours away. They could afford to sit in the back and talk about their plans. "One time, he left her a note telling her he was staying over at a friends after school, but she didn't get it so she stormed the school and his dad had to physically hold her back from punching the principal when he said he didn't know where Teo had gone"

"Wait, that was your mom?" Steve laughed in disbelief, "I remember I stayed back for basketball that day and coach had to let us go early because some tiny Italian woman was yelling at the Principal"

Matteo just slumped into a chair and continued licking his ice cream. "I thought I was going to die yesterday. And now the chances of imminent death just keep increasing"

"Did someone say imminent death?" Dustin burst into their little meeting, dry now unlike last night. He wore a truly atrociously bright neon orange shirt and a sleeveless denim vest with his yellow and green camp Know Where hat. Matteo winced at how loud his outfit was. Around his neck hung the binoculars which he placed on the table along with his bag. "Good thing Steve and I have a history with imminent death"

"That... does not reassure me" Matteo kept eating his ice cream, "It's just that... I don't remember the last time I told her I loved her, and what if I die in a secret Russian bunker and she never even finds my body? I told my dad this morning though"

Steve looked at him in a way Matteo couldn't describe.

"He's weirdly super attached to his parents" Robin explained, "He's blessed with decent ones"

"Oh" Steve nodded as if that explained something, "Can't relate"

Robin just snickered and nodded in agreement.

"Listen," Steve fixed him with one of his babysitter stares, the one Matteo knew he used for his weird children, "Everything's going to be fine. You're going to save America, go back to your mom, tell her you love her and then eat as much ice cream as you want"

Matteo hated that it actually helped. It was just the sure way in which Steve said it, as if he knew it would. It helped calm Matteo's nerves a bit.

"Guys, focus" Dustin said, "Evil Russians— save America— heroes— us"

"I'm sorry, are we playing word association?" Matteo raised an eyebrow. "What did you find this morning?"

"There's a keycard that opens the door," Dustin explained, "But unfortunately the Russian with the key card also has a massive gun. Whatever's in this room, whatever's in those boxes, they really don't want anybody finding it.