Surrender // Steve Harrington x Reader

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

ONE YEAR LATER.

"You're doing well, (Y/N). It's been a year now since everything happened and even I can see all the hard work you've been doing to be the person you want to be." Your therapist, Doctor Willow Harkness, tells you. She was a kind, heavy set older lady with dark hair that was peppered with grey. Thick glasses hang low on her nose and she had a kind smile when she spoke that made you feel a strange comfort. "You're not a bad person. Henry brainwashed and used you for so long that you didn't know any better. You were a child raised by the wrong person."

She was always so colorful too. Today she wore a purple cardigan and pale pink shirt with a green beaded necklace resting over the top. Her office was in her house which helped you feel more relaxed too, like you were talking to a friend. 

"After the life you've had, you've come farther than anyone could have expected. The guilt you have is natural, but I'm pleased to know it's not consuming you as much as it used to and it shows just how unlike Henry you are that you feel it in the first place. I know you were worried about being like him, but your reaction to what he did after learning how people really are shows that you are a far better person than he ever was. You just needed help finding that part of you." She tells you, still smiling. She seemed almost proud of you which made you feel a slither of joy. "How is work?" 

"It's good. I'm still liking it... Kinda... I don't know, gives me purpose." You shrug, but it was all true. The lady at the hospital had done as she'd said she might, helping you secure a new life with your legal name now set as the one you'd chosen. 

These sessions were a condition, and had been difficult at first. You weren't used to talking about your past, but if it meant having the life you wanted you honestly would have done anything.

You cooperated fully, giving them whatever was requested and in return gotten a small apartment in town and a new identity. The identity you'd chosen for yourself. 

You'd gotten a job at a local movie theater which was long hours and hard work, but better than sitting at home and mourning the losses you'd caused. Robin came over a few nights a week to keep you company but mostly you kept to yourself, trying to keep focused on bettering yourself and forgiving yourself for what you'd done. You hadn't fully cracked that last part yet but you were working hard to. Therapy helped. 

"Keep it up. You're doing great." She tells you, tucking her pen into her writing pad. "Our time is up for today but we can extend if you had anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Shaking your head, you stand up from the plush chair and sling your purse over your shoulder, smoothing out the skirt of your sundress. 

You say your goodbyes and head home to change into jeans and your uniformed navy polo in time for work. You had the evening shift which was always something you would dread. All the loved-up couples were a painful reminder of what you were missing. To Willow and Robin you could easily pretend things were going well, but still you mourned your lost love so deeply.

Knowing Steve was in the same town as you still, just out of reach was a misery you struggled with daily. You could move, sure. Could get out of there, but you didn't want to. Even the briefest glimpse of him as you rode your bicycle past Family Video every day was enough to salve your heart for just a moment. Knowing he was alive. Knowing he looked somewhat happy. It was enough.

You could have tried to talk to him in person, but you were a coward. Besides. It wasn't like you hadn't tried. 

When you first got the chance to have this new life, you'd written him a letter begging and pleading for the chance to explain. Pathetic, but you did it anyway. You'd told him you'd wait for him every day at the little diner outside of town, the one you'd been to a few times on dates with him when you were together. It was his favorite place for banana milkshakes.