A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION
Ryan Fordman has lived next door to Steve Harrington her entire life. Her entire life, he'd always been a window away, occasionally shouting across the space between their houses. They were inseparable... at least, they we...
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Ryan woke up the next morning, looking at the world through puffy eyes. Steve had left a couple hours before to get dressed for school, leaving a note explaining his whereabouts on the pile of blankets on the her floor. She rolled over, pulling her comforter over her head to block out the sunlight that was streaming in through her window. It didn't seem fair that the sun kept shining, not when she felt like she did. Not when all her efforts to find Will were for nothing. Not when Will was- not when he was gone.
The phone on her nightstand started ringing, a shrill sound that she ignored. She rolled over in her bed, facing her bookshelf, waiting for the phone to stop ringing. The ringing stopped for a few seconds before it started up again. Sighing, she rolled over to grab the phone. She had a feeling it would keep ringing until she answered.
"Hello?" Ryan mumbled, stretching the phone cord as far as she could as she rolled back over.
"Ryan? We need you over here now." The minute she heard Mike's voice on the other end of the line, Ryan shot up straight, almost knocking the receiver off the nightstand. "It's important."
"What's happened?" She asked quickly. With Will's death, she knew her little group of nerds were going to need as much emotional support they could get. She was so focused on her own feelings she had almost forgot that they were hurting too. Some babysitter she was. "Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine," Mike said quickly, sounding a little out of breath. "Just get over here as soon as you can."
Ryan put her phone back on the receiver, changing out of her pajamas as quickly as she could, not bothering to clean up after herself as she ran down the stairs. Peter had already left to meet Hopper, leaving Aaron the only other person in the house, sitting at the kitchen counter when she made it to the front door.
Surprisingly, he didn't even try to stop her as she grabbed the keys to her car. She supposed it was because there wasn't much he could do to stop her anymore. There was no reason for her to be sitting at home waiting for call that wouldn't be coming, not anymore. She was needed elsewhere, so she sucked up her tears and headed out the door.
*•*•*
A few moments later, Ryan sat on the floor of the Wheeler's basement next to Dustin and Eleven, listening to Mike's walkie-talkie. Whatever channel he had tapped into created a lot of static, making it hard to hear whatever it was that Mike was trying to show them.
Dustin looked over at her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine bud." Ryan reached over, ruffling his curls. "Don't worry about me okay?"
"But you look like you've been crying." Lucas pointed out, moving to sit closer to her. "We know you were really close to Will."
Mike shushed the group while El held onto the walkie-talkie. The trio looked at each other in confusion. None of them knew why they were there, just that it had something to do with Will and Eleven. The radio went silent before staticky cries were heard.
