𝙴𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 ||𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚘𝚗

8

Steve held my face in his hands as we kissed. I couldn't believe I was actually making out with Steve Harrington, this wasn't like me. Maybe Billy was right. I do owe him. Steve's hands moved down my back sending a shiver through my body. He placed his hands on my waist as our lips moved with each other. I moved my hands down his defined chest as I reached for his pants. He moved his hands from around my waist and grabbed my hands, pulling away from me.

"What are you doing?" He asked as his eyes searched my face. I looked down at our hands.

"You did something for me so I owe you, Steve." I began to feel embarrassed as he tilted my face up to him.

"You don't owe me that, Elizabeth. You don't owe anyone that. I only want to when you are ready, not because you feel like it's what you need to do." He had a gentle smile across his face as he pulled me into his chest.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly as he held me against him. His fingers moved through my hair as I listen to his heartbeat.

"You don't have to apologize, I just don't understand why you feel like you need to do that." I looked back at Steve. I couldn't tell him. Not the truth. Dad always told Susan she owed him that much after everything he does for her. I ignored him and laid my head on my shoulder before we both heard a car door shut. I looked back at Steve, worried. How could dad know where I am? I quickly got off of his lap and hopped out of the hot tube. 

"I'm sure it's nothing," Steve said turning to me. I grabbed the shirt I came out in and threw it over my head as Steve got out. He grabbed two towels out of a storage cabinet before bringing one over to me. "Here, I'll go get you some dry clothes." He wrapped a towel around his waist, then walked back inside. I wrapped myself in the towel and sat down on a lounge chair as I waited for him. He was taking a long time, so I decided to go in and check on him. 

"Steve?" I called through the kitchen and didn't hear anything. I looked in the living room and didn't find him, so I went upstairs. His bedroom door was cracked and I could see through it. He was kissing someone. She leaned back and laughed. It was Nancy. I couldn't help but feel angry. I knew this was all to get her back, but it didn't feel right. He just kissed me and now he's kissing Nancy while I am here? I turned back down the stairs and grabbed my shoes. I dropped the towel by the stairs before going out the front door. I tried to ignore how cold it was as I walked to Robin's, in Steve's t-shirt. How could I be so stupid? 

"Beth, where is Steve?" Robin asked, rushing me into the house as I shivered. 

"Don't worry about it." I looked down on the couch and saw Max sleeping. "I'm going to take a shower then I should probably take Max home." I walked straight to the bathroom, ignoring all questions from Robin. I quickly changed out of the bikini and hopped into the shower, trying not to think about Steve and Nancy. Once I finished my shower, I walked into the guest bedroom and threw on my sweats and t-shirt. I heard talking in the living room and sat on the bed for a minute. Why would he come here? I gathered all of my things before walking out into the living room. Steve and Robin were talking and I looked away from Steve's gaze. I got down on Max's level and gently shook her to wake her up. 

"Hey, Max." She slowly opened her eyes. "You ready to go home?" She got up and nodded sleepily. I looked up at Steve and he gave me a small smile. "You can meet me out in the car." Max grabbed her things and then walked out to my car. Robin walked down the hallway as I made sure we weren't leaving anything behind. 

"You left," Steve said quietly. I didn't look at him as double checked everything. 

"I needed to get back for Max, I didn't realize the time." I shoved everything into my bag and turned towards the door, but he was standing in front of it. 

"I could have driven you." I looked up into his eyes before lowering mine. 

"You were busy." I pushed past him as I walked outside. 

"Elizabeth, it's not what it looked like, she came onto me." I turned to look at him. 

"What does it matter to me? We are only dating so you could get her back, Steve. There you go, you got her back. Now we can stop this stupid relationship." 

"Elizabeth, please," I turned away from him again and walked down to my car, but he grabbed my hand in his. 

"No," I pulled my hand away from his. "Billy was right, we are just using each other. You should have just fucked me so I could be another notch on your belt." I bit back the tears in my eyes before getting into my car. Max had fallen asleep and I was so ready to join her. I looked up at Steve one more time and he was running his hands through his hair. I pulled out of the driveway and drove home. Dad was excepting us home sooner, so I had to prepare myself for what was to come. I quietly unlocked the front door as Max stood behind me, still half asleep. We walked into the living room and dad was sitting with a beer in his hand watching the tv. 

"Where have you two been?" He asked, not even looking at us. I walked Max to her room, and getting her in bed. I grabbed her walkman off her desk and put it over her ears. 

"No matter what you hear, don't come out. Ok?" She nodded and I gave her a kiss on her head. I walked to the door and locked it before shutting it behind me. I walked out to the living room and notice the pile of beer cans on the coffee table. 

"I said where have you been? Are you deaf all of a sudden?" I walked in and began cleaning up the cans. 

"Sorry, dad. We got lost track of time. Max fell asleep and I didn't want to wake her." He finally looked over at me and I saw how glazed his eyes were. I was definitely missing school on Monday. I walked the cans into the kitchen to throw them away but heard him following behind me. 

"You are a little slut, you know that? Just like your mother." I tried not to let the words get to me as he began drinking whiskey out of the bottle. "Did you hear me?" He asked agitated. I nodded as I closed the trash can. 

"I told you, we were at Robin's." I turned to look at him. He shook his head and began laughing. 

"Right, so are you a dyke? Whoring yourself out to her?" I was angered by what he said. I was the only person Robin could ever trust with her secret. Nobody knew. "It makes sense then. You never take it like you should." 

"Dad, that's not true." I was now standing across the kitchen from him and he was holding the whiskey bottle in his hands. 

"Now you are calling me a liar? A fucking liar?" The bottle crashed onto the wall behind me. I felt the wetness from the liquid all over me as well as the stinging pain from the shards of glass that had hit my face. "I thought I raised you better than this. But to question your father?" 

"I'm sorry, dad," I said quietly looking down at my hands. There was a shooting pain in my back as he threw me against the wall. I fell onto the glass all over the floor as he began kicking me and hitting me, yelling all sorts of nasty things. 

"You are nothing, Lizzy. Nothing but a whore. I should have killed you and your mother when I had the chance." His hands were now around my throat as I felt crushing pain all around. I tried to focus on anything else, but all I could see were his eyes. There was so much hatred behind those eyes. How could he hate me so much? 

"I'm sorry," I tried to say, but it barely came out. "Please, I'll be better." He loosened his grip around my throat before he pulled me off of the ground. He threw me on the couch before taking off his belt. 

"Prove it."