Damage Control // Steve Harrington Fanfic

Chapter 14

"We can stay with you." Eddie offered as he pulled into my driveway, making me chuckle at the familiarity of this situation, Bree and Eddie, dropping me off at home after I cried to them over Steve Harrington, can anyone say deja vu? When Eddie got to the van at school, he was out of breath, chest heaving, apparently all the classrooms that were in the hallway heard everything that had happened, heard our entire confrontation, and word was spreading around the school like wildfire. As soon as the bell rang, Eddie sprinting out here only to find me crying in Bree's arms and repeating that I didn't know and didn't understand what had happened. Bree had become like a sister to me, we really connected, bonded which is something I never thought I would have again, not since Nancy dropped me the minute popularity started sounding appetizing to her. Eddie had been my best friend since spin the bottle at the age of twelve, I felt safe with them, so I let it all out, we sat in the parking lot for a good hour or so, them trying to get me to calm down and think it all through...that was until we saw Steve, Lola and Jonathan walking to the dark red car and I demanded that we get moving, not wanting him to see the van and know exactly where I was so we did just that. I thought about what I had seen the whole ride to my house, Steve and Nancy...Billy coming to pull the three of us girls out of class...the smug look on his face, I didn't know if it was my Byers suspicion talking or the hopes that maybe Steve wasn't cheating on me and it was all some big ploy but...it seemed like a set up which in a way...was oddly comforting. Comforting in a way that I had never known, I now had to pick the lesser of two evils, was my boyfriend cheating on me worse or was Billy and Nancy conspiring together to take down Steve and I, which they succeeded in worse? And more importantly, which one was true?

"No, that's alright...I um...I don't want to revisit my dark days, I think once was enough and I don't know, it feels different this time around...it hurts ten times more than last time but it doesn't feel like I'm going to break because of it. I'm just going to go inside, see Mom and Will, I haven't been home since before Tina's party and I haven't slept at home since Monday...I'll be fine." I assured them, looking back and forth between them as I mindlessly twirled Steve's ring on my finger, tears permanently in my eyes from the pain I felt in my chest, but not a single one spilling over.

"You won't be alone, that's what matters." Bree reminded with a small smile and open arms which only made me turn her way to accept the hug that I knew she was offering me.