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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The sun was setting outside as Ryan sat on the couch with Steve, watching movies, their homework sitting forgotten on the coffee table next to takeout containers they had warmed up in the microwave. Neither of her brothers were home, reminding Ryan of the time they had left her alone last year. Luckily, she hadn't just escaped the Upside Down and she once again had Steve.
"Jesus Christ, again?" Ryan groaned as she glanced at the time on the clock. "I swear, I'm going to kill them."
"Hey, at least there's food in the fridge." Steve shrugged, flashing her a lopsided smile. "I think there's like an orange or something in mine."
"Oh," She exclaimed, looking at him in mock surprise. "That's why you've been here every day."
"I mean, it's not the only reason but it's a pretty good one." He laughed. Ryan shook her head, smacking him in the face with a pillow, watching as it fell to the floor. He picked it up, throwing it back at her, "I'm going to take a shower."
She sat up straight, pillow in her lap as he walked to the stairs, "Staying the night again?"
"You think I'm going to leave you alone?" He scoffed. The last time Peter and Aaron had left her alone, she had gone to another dimension, hunting monsters with Nancy and Jonathan. He knew she didn't like staying by herself anymore. Besides, he didn't have anyone waiting on him either. "Yeah, I'm staying the night and don't start Rocky without me!"
Ryan watched him take the stairs two at a time with a small smile. She leaned back into the couch, sitting in silence until the phone rang next to her. She quickly put the phone to her ear, tugging at the pillow in her hands, "If this is either one of you idiots, I'm going to kill you."
A girlish laugh came from the other end of the line, "Nice greeting."
"Nancy! Oh my God, hi!" Ryan exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Is everything okay? Where are you? You said you'd call!"
"This is me calling." Nancy snickered.
"Haha, very funny smartass." Ryan rolled her eyes as Nancy laughed. "Where are you?"
"I'm at a motel with Jonathan."
Ryan's eyes widened as she looked at the place on the stairs Steve had been only minutes before, "Uh what?"
Nancy sighed, "It's not like that."
"Tell that to Steve who found out you skipped with Jonathan yesterday and found out neither one of you had come back." Ryan shook her head, even though she knew Nancy couldn't see her.
"How is he?"
"Honestly?" She thought about how what steve had said in the gym. How he just stated that he was right about Nancy and Jonathan. It was like it didn't bother him at all, more like he was just stating a simple fact like the sky was blue. "He seems fine, I don't know how."
