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 sat on the floor of the restroom underneath the sinks, her head in her hands. The room was empty and would most likely stay that way for another ten or fifteen minutes at least. No one used the restroom by the library, not during the lunch hour anyway. She could cry, scream, whatever she wanted and no one would ever know.
Just as the thought came, the door opened. Ryan quickly wiped her eyes, ready to come up with some excuse as to why she was sitting on the floor until she saw Nancy turning the corner. Her eyes fell on Ryan, her expression shifting to one of concern, "Ryan, what happened? Why'd you take off like that?"
"Nothing, no reason." Ryan said quickly, shaking her head, not moving from her spot on the floor. "I just really needed to get out of there."
"What happened?" Nancy asked again. Ryan didn't speak, hugging her knees to her chest. Nancy sighed, sitting under the sinks with her, not caring about how dirty the floor was for the first time in her life. "What is it? What did he tell you?"
"Nothing, he just reminded me that I'm so fucking screwed." Ryan leaned her head back against the wall. "I'm a horrible person."
Nancy stared at her in disbelief, "Why would you ever think you're a horrible person?" Ryan didn't speak, staring at her boots. Nancy took her hand, bumping her shoulder lightly, "You're my best friend, you can tell me anything. I won't judge you."
"It sounds so stupid compared to everything we've gone through," Ryan sighed, lacing her fingers through Nancy's. "But have you ever had feelings for someone you couldn't be with?"
"That's what this is about? He made you feel bad because of your feelings for someone?" Nancy moved to stand back up, anger flashing in her eyes. "I'm going to kill him."
"Nancy- Nancy, wait." Ryan tugged on her hand, stopping her before she could walk back out the door and stab Billy with her newly sharpened pencil. "He's not the problem. The problem is me. I'm the one in love with someone I can't have. He just- reminded me."
Nancy sat back down on the floor with a sigh, "I know what that feels like."
Ryan looked at Nancy in surprise, "You do?"
"Yeah, actually." Nancy nodded, staring at the empty bathroom stall across from them. "Liking someone you can't have or won't go after? I get it completely, I think a lot of people do."
Ryan couldn't remember a time Nancy had liked someone who didn't like her back, but then again she hadn't been friends with her her whole life like Barb had. Maybe there was someone she'd liked in the past.
"It feels awful and I can't stop it." Ryan admitted. Nancy was probably the last person she should be talking to about this, but once she opened her mouth, she couldn't stop the words from falling out. "It hurts every time I see him with someone else and then it hurts that it hurts because I want him to be happy and I like this other person and-"
