~ Our Forever ~ Steve Harrington

*Chapter Five*

When I woke up only hours after falling asleep, my head felt like it was going to burst. Opening my still exhausted eyes, I rubbed my headache and turned to where Steve used to be on the couch, noticing he wasn't there.

"Good, you're up," I jumped, turning towards the kitchen where Steve was making some sort of breakfast. "You want eggs?" he asked, gesturing to the stove. I shook my head no, which didn't help the pounding headache.

Steve let out a low chuckle, handing me a smoothie. "I've learned these help, trust me," he said. I gave him a small thanks before taking a sip, gulping down the soothing liquid. "We have about ten minutes until we have to leave, if you need to change i'm sure I can find you something from my moms closet," he offered.

"Oh, no, that's really okay-" I tried, but Steve was persistent.

"No, really, I'll be just a minute," he said, running upstairs to grab some clothes. He came back holding a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized brown knit sweater. Not exactly what I would've chosen, but I was grateful nonetheless.

"Thank you," I gave him a small smile before heading towards the bathroom, which he had said was the first door entering the house.

I changed and tied my very messy hair into a loose bun, hoping it would stay up for the majority of the day. The sweater actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was, but I didn't have much time to admire myself before running out of the bathroom door and throwing on my converse.

Steve was stifling laughter at my messy state, but I only glared at him as I yanked open the front door. "Hey, you look... great," he tried, but this only made him laugh harder.

"Oh, shut up," suddenly going back to not liking the brown sweater. We got into his car and drove to school, my heartbeat going a mile a minute.

"Layla, hey, are you okay?" Steve asked, noticing how nervous I looked. I turned to him, trying to put on a convincing smile as I nodded.

"Yeah, no I'm fine," I assured him, but he only frowned.

"Are you sure it was okay for you to sleepover? I mean, your parents don't really know me-"

"Steve? It's fine. Drop it," my tone was harsh, but it did the job, although he seemed like all he wanted to do was ask more questions. My leg started bouncing as we pulled into the school parking lot, my eyes scanning for that stupid blue Camero.

When I spotted it and, more importantly, who was leaning against it, I whipped my head around, my breaths going shaky. I wanted to slap myself for how panicked I was, this was my brother for God's sake. But I couldn't help it.

"Ok, seriously, what's wrong," Steve didn't seem to be asking anymore as he turned to me, worry written all over his face. "I'm the one who just got dumped, why are you so freaked out about going to school-?"but his voice trailed off as he took notice to Billy's hard glare. "Oh."

"Yeah," I said simply. "It's okay, just walk out with me, maybe he'll leave me alone in a public setting," I reasoned, although it felt like I was more convincing myself that it would be okay more than I was Steve. He seemed unsure, but nodded, stepping outside. I followed close behind, trying not to make eye contact with my brother.

"Layla," his voice was right behind me, and before I knew it, he was grabbing my arm and forcefully turning me to face him. "Layla, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Oh, hey, Billy! Isn't it such a lovely day?" I knew this wouldn't work on him, but could you blame a girl for trying?

"No, it's not. Not after I go home from a party last night, without my little sister. I asked around for you and everything, but no one knew where you were. Then I see you come to school with Harrington, of all people-"