ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀʙᴏʏ {} 𝗠𝗮𝘅 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝚡 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗢𝗖

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗: Roses

Nathan sat on the edge of his bed, rolling his ankle around in a pair of flannel pajamas in an attempt to loosen it up and stretch it out. His twisted ankle had healed up pretty quickly for the most part. He had re-injured it after Billy almost turned him into roadkill but it seemed fine and dandy for the most part.

He watched as Steve walked into his room, "Put on a shirt, Rick Rude. We've got flowers to pick up!" Steve walked over to the boy and nudged his head roughly, giving him a noogie. Nathan quickly made an attempt to push Steve off of him, successfully doing it before yelling, "You're a dickhead!"

"And to think that you thought that you were going to bitch a senior. You could barely stop me from giving you a noogie."

"You caught me off guard."

"Should I give you a heads up next time?"

"Ha. Ha." Nathan rolled his eyes as Steve walked out of the room. It only took about ten minutes for the boy to get ready. He quite literally grabbed the first articles of clothing he saw in his closet. Nathan walked out of his room and into the kitchen. To his surprise, he was greeted by the presence of his father, standing in the kitchen and looking out a nearby window. The older man brought a glass to his chapped lips, letting it's amber contents flow into his mouth as he stared at his two sons; his legacy. Nathan could care less what the man was doing nor why he was here and not at work like he usually was.

"You boys going out?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.

Steve glanced at Nathan, internally shaking his head at the boy who seemed like he want to respond. Nine times out of ten, Nathan's responses to their father just seemed to make the situation even worse for himself so Steve decided to answer for him.

"Yeah," Steve responded.

"And why's that...?" Steve heard his father say, slowly standing up. He turned to Nathan specifically with the same cold, dead eyes he'd given Nathan for the entirety of his life.

"I was just gonna take him out, for some fun."

"Fun? Your definition of fun is lounging around and getting high. You're both staying home."

Steve knew what he really meant: he didn't want Nathan going out and getting caught up in Steve's old unruly after school activities. But, in his own opinion, he had changed after last year and the whole ordeal with the Upside Down. 

He had changed to become a better person and most importantly, a better brother. During their younger years, Steve had never really been that close to Nathan. He had always viewed the boy as the annoying younger brother, who was nothing more than just a plain out nuisance who bothered and pestered him. And it didn't help that his father had always preferred his second son to his first. He avoided that house at all costs. The life of a popular kid was his escape. Whether it was a party, smoking, drinking, getting a quick high, he'd do it just to escape that house. And every single time, he just left Nathan all by himself with him. For years.

Maybe that was why he changed after last year.

Or maybe it was Nancy, who helped him straighten out a bit and open his eyes to the kids around him, like Tommy. She did so much for him.

And for that, he loved her. But, in the end, what she did to help him, change him, was all just...

"Bullshit."

Steve couldn't get that word out of his head. At first he had wanted to fade back away into the popular kid he once was; the smoker, drinker, and partier he once was. After all, that was his outlet for his home life. But, he couldn't relapse like that, at least not when he had a younger brother that looked up to him. He finally had the chance to be the older brother Nathan needed and deserved and not the neglectful, absent one he got for the first 12 years of his life.