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 stood in line with Axel at the Orange Julius kiosk in the food court at the mall, making a quick smoothie run for her and Robin while her and Steve held down the fort at Scoops Ahoy. She just hoped that they would both still be alive when she got back.
"I saw Nancy before I left today." Axel said after they took another step toward the counter. "How is the dynamic duo?"
"The dynamic duo?" Ryan laughed at the nickname. Her and Nancy had been called a lot of things in the past few years, but dynamic duo had a nice ring to it. "What are we? Batman and Robin?"
Axel shrugged, "Might as well be."
"She's been busy with that job at Hawkins Post, I've been practically living at Scoops Ahoy so I haven't been able to hang out with her as much as we originally thought we would this summer," She admitted, taking the last step to the counter. To be honest, she truly missed spending time with Nancy. The last time they'd hung out was over two weeks before. It sucked. "But I still call her my best friend so I'd say we're good."
They placed their orders, moving off to the side to wait for their number to be called. Axel leaned against the counter, shaking his head with a sigh, "I can't believe how much has changed since I left. Nancy's dating Jonathan, you're with Steve and apparently have five kids, El got adopted by Hopper—"
"We got a mall." She added with a nod.
"Yeah, since when is Hawkins cool enough for a mall?"
Ryan snorted, "Oh sorry we don't have a beach for you to surf the massive waves on."
"Hey, don't knock it til you try it."
"Tell me when I'll be able to try it, Axe. I live in Indiana and I'll be in New York in the fall." The person behind the counter handed them their drinks, Ryan immediately sticking a straw in hers before she grabbed Robin's with her free hand.
New York in the fall. She was moving to New York in the fall— she should be more excited about that, it was everything she wanted, or at least, she thought it was. The problem was, she had never been so far from Hawkins before. Her entire life was here, her family, the kids, Nancy and Jonathan— she didn't want to just leave them behind. With everything they had been through, everything she had been through, the idea of school just didn't seem that important anymore either. She couldn't explain it, so she never said it out loud. After all, it was what everyone expected her to want.
Her and Steve had briefly talked about what the move would mean for their relationship, but they could never figure out whether or not they would move there together, officially moving in with each other, or if they would try to make it work long distance. If New York was really going to happen, Ryan wanted Steve with her, but she wasn't going to force him to come with her if he didn't want to.
