Halley's comet | Steve Harrington

xvi. post up, dad

"𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕, 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒐."

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

Jonathan had dropped Nancy off at her house before driving himself and Halley home.

Oddly enough, after every shitty thing each girl had said to, or about the other, there seemed to be a slim piece of what they had years ago when they were still friends. Nancy had even spared her a small smile before walking up to her porch.

It was definitely appreciated with everything going on.

Pulling into their own driveway felt wrong. Not because of tensions between her brother and mom, but because of an unexpected addition to the path.

"Is that...?" she trailed off; Jonathan was sure to understand. And he did, the car was off in a second and he was outside looking both angry and extremely confused.

Running a hand through his hair, for a moment Halley worried he would punch the car. It looked like he was holding himself back, but instead he turned to face her, his voice far lower than only a minute ago, "Why is he here?"

Unfortunately, Halley was just as unaware of the reason for Lonnie's appearance. "I don't want that son of a bitch alone with Mom," she said, and Jonathan nodded solemnly. No matter the argument from earlier, Lonnie was a greater evil.

The two teens pulled open the door to find their mother and ex husband sitting on the couch. At the sight of the man, Halley subconsciously brought her hand to the harsh mark on her cheek. Jonathan took a step in front of her.

"Hey, kids." Lonnie looked at them, not at all seeming to notice the uncomfortable air between them.

"What's going on?" Quick to skip the pleasantries, Jonathan looked from Lonnie to their mom. The sight was so strangely familiar, yet at the same time something that felt so wrong.

Joyce looked up, quirking her head just slightly at the anger laced on her kids' faces. "Your dad's gonna stay tonight," Jonathan and Halley shared a glance, "On the, on the couch," she clarified. And while that made it better, neither of them were happy about having him in their house.

He was up now. Trying to act fatherly. Clasping Halley's shoulder, he ignored the way she cringed, "I'm here as long as you need me, okay? How are you holding up?" She shoved his hand away, refusing to speak to him.

"What happened?" she turned her attention to Jonathan's voice, he was facing the wall now, or at least where the wall used to be. A giant hole let a crisp breeze in, explaining the extra blanket Joyce was wrapped up in.

"Don't worry about that," Lonnie cut in, trying to bring his attention back to him. But Halley wasn't having it.

"Mom, did that thing come back, again?" The mere idea of it—crawling into her house and staring right at her, made her skin crawl. She didn't want to imagine it coming back for her mom.