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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The house was silent once everyone had left, leaving Ryan and Steve to watch the kids alone. They had nothing to do, stuck on the sidelines, out of all the chaos. The kids were all on edge and truth be told, Ryan was never good with being left out of the action. Still, the least they could do was clean up the house, just a little bit. Ryan handed Lucas and Max the broom and dustpan, watching as Mike paced the floor.
Behind her, Steve and Dustin were wrapping the demodog up in one of Jonathan's old blankets. She turned around, seeing Steve lift the dog in his hands, walking in the direction of the kitchen, Dustin leading the way. "Uh, babe?" She called into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"
"Uh, nothing." Steve grunted, shifting the dog in his hands, getting a better grip while Ryan raised her eyebrows. "Fine, it was Dustin's idea."
Ryan shook her head, turning back to face Mike pacing the floor. Since El had left, he hadn't spoken a single word, just paced the floor, back and forth, back and forth. She was sure if he kept moving that way, he was going to burn a hole in the floor.
"Hey sweetheart," She said softly, sitting down on the couch as he paced in front of her. "Talk to me. What's going on in that brain of yours?"
"So you knew about her the whole time?" Mike stopped his pacing long enough to look over at her. "You knew about El? Where she was this whole time?"
Lucas and Max paused their actions, looking up at the them, neither one sure how Mike was feeling about the situation. The entire house was silent, except the sounds of Dustin and Steve struggling with the demodog in the kitchen.
"Yes," She nodded with a sigh. "And I was going to tell you, I wanted to tell you so bad, because I knew you missed, but I made a promise to protect her and you for that matter."
"You didn't think it would have been safe for us?"
It was a question that Ryan had thought about for a whole year. At first, if he would've asked her a week ago, she would've said it was fine, but now? Now she fully understood why El's existence had to be kept from the kids. This world was crazy and screwed up, there was never going to be a right time to tell them, El really was going to have to take care of it on her own all along, "No, honey, it wouldn't have been."
Mike was silent as he looked at her thoughtfully. Ryan waited patiently for him to speak, the only sound in the house sounded suspiciously like the refrigerator door being forced shut repeatedly. Finally, he sighed, "I believe you."
Ryan nodded, leaning back into the couch with a sigh of relief. She was so damn exhausted. Lucas and Max continued to clean up the floor as Mike started to pace- again. Lucas sighed loudly in exasperation, "Mike, just stop, okay?"
