I think it’s hilarious if every member of Hellfire secretly thinks that Steve is an alright guy. No one ever mentions it because Eddie would be unbearable if he found out that they didn’t hate every jock (even the one he has a crush on). The ranting would never stop.
Like one time during Grant’s freshman year, he was getting his bike out of the rack when Steve stopped to tie his shoe. He casually says, “Just so you know, Tom- some upperclassmen like to steal the screws on freshie’s bikes. A kid last year ate shit and knocked out three teeth.”
Totally saved him from what could’ve been an embarrassing accident because every screw in his bike had been loosen to the point of nearly falling out.
The next day, Steve winked at him in the hallway like they had a secret and Grant felt totally normal about it.
There are two things Jeff knows about his step-dad: (1) he likes to restore old cars in their driveway, and (2) he keeps trying to get Jeff to help him with it. Jeff does not want this. He hates cars. It’s boring.
The one day, he gets home from chess club and Steve Harrington is standing in his driveway, holding a flashlight while his step-dad works under the hood. He’s wearing running shoes and the little shorts Eddie is always lusting over, and Jeff is…fully confused.
He doesn’t even say anything, just goes inside.
Then on Saturday, Jeff wakes up fully prepared with an excuse on why he can’t work on the car, but Steve Harrington is in his driveway again with the hood of his BMW up. When he looked out the window later, he can see Steve’s feet sticking out from under the junker.
Two weeks go by and Steve keeps making appearance in his driveway, but no one is asking Jeff to work on the car so. He fully accepts that he walked into the Twilight Zone and never mentions it to anybody.