Our Never Ending Story | Steve Harrington x Reader

[4] The Regret

Once I woke up all I could feel was regret and ashamed of myself. Nancy is my bestfriend and I full on made out with her boyfriend. I felt so unmotivated. I couldn't get out of bed. I just felt so bad for Jonathan.

I eventually got to school, late. But not as late as I usually am. I got there after first period and saw Steve waiting for me by my locker.

"You look a mess." He says grinning at me.
"Shut up." I say.
"I didn't tell Nancy." He says.
"What?"
"I didn't tell Nancy that we made out if that's what you're so stressed out about." He says.
"No, that's not it. It's just with everything..." I say.
"I get it." He says and walks off. Such an asshole. He doesn't get it. Nobody does. Nancy came up today me and told me about how Barbara is missing and that she saw someone with no face.

"No face?"
"Yeah."
"Jesus Christ." I say and put my hands over my face. I go to third period when a teacher comes in and calls me to the principals office. I'm probably suspended.

"Elizabeth Hopper. If you'll come with me, please?"
I get my stuff confused and saw Officer Callahan and Officer Powell with Nancy and Karen Wheeler. Shit.

"Elizabeth." Powell says and gestures towards the seat infront of him.
"So what happened at this party?" Powell asks and I shrug.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Callahan asks.
I shake my head. My dads going to kill me.
"Please don't tell my dad." I say and they both sigh.
"We have to." Powell says. I tell them everything that happened at the party and run out of school. I didn't know where to go or who to go to. I just kept running until I got somewhere I recognised. The police station. I went in there and saw my dad talking to someone.

"Jesus, Lizzy. What are you doing here?" He asks and I tell him everything about the party. I could tell he was mad but sympathetic.
"Look, kid. I'm busy now but do you want to check in on Jonathan? He's planning wills funeral." He says.
"Oh my god, yeah." I say and go over to the church. I see Nancy and Jonathan talking there.

"Lizzy?" Jonathan says and gets up and hugs me tightly.
"I'm so sorry." I say and release myself from the hug. Nancy shows me the photo of Barb at the party and the creature behind her.
"When I fell off my skateboard heading home, I saw that too." I say.
"The cops think that she ran away." Nancy says.
"Barb wouldn't do that." I say.
"I went back to Steve's and I thought I saw something. Some... weird man or... I don't don't know what it was." Nancy says then looks over at Jonathan.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come here today. I'm so sorry." Nancy says then gets up and goes to leave.
"What'd he look like?" Jonathan asks.
"What?" Nancy asks.
"This man you saw in the woods. What'd he look like?" Jonathan asks.
"I don't know..." Nancy stammers, "it was almost like he didn't have an-"
"Didn't have a face?" Jonathan finishes.
"How did you know that?" Nancy asks.

We go to the red room to develop Jonathan's photos after he tells us that his mother saw the weird man with no face.

"Did your mom say anything else?" Nancy asks, "like where it might have gone to or..?"
"No, just that it came out of the wall." Jonathan says.
"Doesn't make sense." I say.
"Trust me, I know." Jonathan says then puts the photo in the water.
"How long does this take?" Nancy asks.
"Not long." Jonathan says.
"Have you been... doing this a while?" Nancy asks.
"What?"
"Photography."
"Yeah. I guess I'd rather observe people than, you know..."
"Talk to them." Nancy finishes.
"I know. It's weird." Jonathan says.
"No!" Nancy says.
"No, it is. It's just sometimes people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment, it says more." Jonathan explains.
"What was I saying? When you took my picture." Nancy says.
"I shouldn't of taken that. I'm sorry. It's just..." Jonathan starts to say when Nancy looks at the photo.
"That's the creature I saw." I say.
"That's the thing I saw in Steve's garden." Nancy says.
"My mom... I thought she was crazy because she said... that's not Wills body. That he's alive. And if he's alive..."
"Then Barbara..." I say.