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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Steve was in the showers, thinking back on the game. It was not his shining moment, but then again, his entire week had been a not-so shining moment. With Billy coming to town, his breakup with Nancy, Will's episode the day before and Ryan's concerns about it, the entire week had been one hell of a mess. And yet, however bad the week had been, there was one constant he could enjoy; the past two days, he had woken up next to Ryan. He didn't hate that, in fact, he liked it more than he cared to admit.
"Don't sweat it Harrington," Billy shrugged, the water hitting the side of his neck. "Today's just not your day."
Steve ignored him, putting shampoo in his hair. Engaging with him would only make the conversation last longer, ruin his mood, which would ruin Ryan's later on, then ruin his again because she would be in a bad mood. Yes, ignoring Billy would be better for everyone.
"Yeah, just not your week." Tommy repeated with a sneer. "You and the princess break up for one day and she's already running off with the freak's brother."
Steve looked up for a minute in confusion. Then, it hit him. Nancy was with Jonathan. The freak Tommy was referring to was Will. He could feel the anger rise in his chest. If Ryan knew— if she heard what Tommy had just said about Will, about her kid— she'd already punched Tommy once on his behalf. He could only imagine the damage she'd cause on behalf of Will Byers.
"Oh shit, you don't know." Tommy smirked. "Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday, still haven't shown. But that must just be a coincidence right?" His boastful smirk changed as he glared. "Thank god you have Ryan as a backup, right?"
Of course that was his problem. All day long, Tommy had been a bigger pain in the ass than usual. Even Ryan had noticed it when he had walked straight past her in the hallway, ignoring her completely. Steve had told her to not overthink it, but this was going to get out of hand.
"Fuck off, Tommy." Steve snapped. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about. If you call Will that again, I'll—"
"What?" Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Because last time I checked, you can't fight worth a shit."
"But Ryan definitely can." Steve watched as Tommy's face paled, feeling satisfied. "You know how much she loves that kid, you really think she won't hesitate knock your ass out? I'd watch your goddamn mouth."
Tommy quickly shut off his water, leaving the showers to get changed. Steve glared after him, turning back finish washing his hair. He didn't know whether to tell Ryan or to keep it to himself. After a bit of thought, he decided to keep it to himself. She had enough going on.
"Don't worry about it man, a pretty boy like you's got nothing to worry about. Plenty of bitches in the sea—" Billy reached over, shutting off Steve's water. "— But I'd focus on the one in the bleachers before someone else realizes how good you have it."
Steve stared at the shower, flipping the water back on the rinse his hair. The girl in the bleachers. Ryan. The girl with the sparkle in her eyes, the one that made him laugh like no one else, the girl that helped save the world. His best friend. He knew how good he had it. He wasn't that dumb. The only problem was, he didn't know what to do about it.
