The Stranger -Sequal To Vienna-

Chapter 3

Stevie's POV

"Steve, I'm okay." I sigh, placing vinyls on the shelves, "You don't have to be glued to me 24/7."

Steve's been glued to my side since I left my house this morning. He was waiting on my doorstep at 9am sharp, I soon found out that Eddie had asked him to take me to and from work, even though I have a car.

I understand that they want me safe but I'm perfectly fine.

The only upside to all this is that I'm now basically living with Eddie, not permanently of course, but every few nights we stay at his trailer and then the other nights we stay at my house.

"I'm more like, 12/3." Steve says, flipping through the pages of Rolling Stone Magazine.

"What are you even talking about?" I sigh, placing my hands on my hips as I watch my best friend not so subtly put the magazine into his jacket and I roll my eyes.

"Eddies with you most of the time, so I'm here when he can't be."

"I don't need any of you babying me." I argue and he raises his eyebrows.

"Too bad. Anyways, where else are grandmas gonna set me up with their hot granddaughters?" He smirks, holding up a piece of paper with a phone number on it that he received from a sweet elderly woman earlier today.

"Pig."

"Oink fuckin oink."

I laugh and carry on doing my job, not noticing Alex walk in through the door.

"Hey, Stevie can I speak to you for a second?" He says and I almost jump, he's never here so this is a huge shock.

This can't be good.

"Am I fired?"

"Not exactly." He sighs, looking as if he already regrets what he's about to say.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm not firing you because I want to."

So he is firing me.

This is just fucking fantastic.

"What. Does. That. Mean." I sneer, surely I'm not being fired? I basically run this place all alone, he has one other staff member and god knows they can't handle it.

"I'm closing down the store." He mumbles, and my eyes widen.

And this is even worse than being fired. I'm being made redundant.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

"Oh god." I hear Steve mutter to himself.

"Why?" I ask, feeling my eyes well up with tears but I'll be damned if I let them fall right now.

"I just don't want it, I don't even care about music and I just wanna get outta this shitty town." Alex shrugs, bastard. Why keep the store in the first place.

"I get it, man. I really do-" I lie, "-but what am I supposed to do? This store has been my life for the last few years!" I exclaim without meaning to, the stress of everything building up.

"Stevie..." Alex warns.

"Sorry, sorry. How long before we close?" I lower my voice, feeling my skin burning with anger.

"Not for another few months."

Oh thank god.

"So I can still work?"

"Obviously."

"Can I pick up extra hours? So I can save up enough money before we close for good." I basically beg. If I'm going to be out of a job, then I need to make as much money as I possibly can.

Yes, I can get another job, but not a job that I want.

It was foolish of me to think that this place would be open forever but I was optimistic, too optimistic.

"Sure. Means I don't have to be here as much."

"As if you're here anyway." I scoff under my breath but I know he heard me from the sigh he lets out.

"I'm heading out, apartment hunting." Is all he says before walking out.

I stare at the door after he leaves, hoping that he'll just spontaneously combust.

"I can't believe this." I whisper, almost forgetting that Steve was still here.

"Stevie it's okay." He tells me, his voice soft and apologetic.

I can feel my breathing get quicker and quicker.

Here we go.

"It's not fucking okay!" I exclaim, finally blowing up and rubbing my hands over my face. "It's as if my entire life is falling apart! First that bastard comes back, I haven't slept since he showed up-"

"Stevie, it's been 6 days." Steve states, his eyes filling with worry.

"Yes Harrington I know. As I was saying, first Billy and now my oasis is closing down? For good? Tell me how that's okay, Steve." I glare at him, all he's doing is staring at me.

"Stevie you need to go home."

"No. Dustin's there, and so is my mom and Eddie." I mutter, pulling CDs from a shelf and going through them even though I'd already done it this morning.

"Your family and your boyfriend? Wow, such a terrifying group of people." He scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's not that! I don't need them wrapping me in bubble wrap, they've been doing it since Friday!" I can feel my heart rate increasing and I can see my own chest rising rapidly without even looking at it. "I just want to be away from it! I want to be here! That's all I fucking want! To be numb!"

"You realise that's why they treat you like that, don't you? Because instead of working through things, talking about this, you completely ignore it all and that's not fucking healthy for you, Stevie." Steve exclaims, his arms waving around as if they have a kind of their own. "But you're not the only one, your brother doing it too. It's dangerous."

The tears finally fall and I break down, he just had to bring Dustin into it didn't he? Knowing that Dustin is also struggling with what I'm going through, is even worse. I don't want to do that to him again.

"I'm sorry but I had to say it, Stevie."

"You're the only one that would...don't be sorry." I shake my head, letting my tears stream down my face and within seconds he wraps his arms around me. "Thank you, I needed to hear it."

I did need to hear it and I'm glad he was the one to say it.

Steve's known me my entire life, he probably knows me better than anyone, and he's also one of the only people that can get through to me during a panic attack.

Which I think is what just happened.

Sometimes my panic attacks can render me completely silent, other times I can't stay silent. It all depends on what sets it off.

I know I need to explain everything to Eddie and I know I need to talk to someone about everything that's going on, I just don't know who. I don't want to pile everything into my mom and brother, they've already been through enough with me and Eddie, well he'll go fucking mental and I don't want him getting arrested.

I have to speak to them all but first, I need to clear my head and go through everything with myself.