BUBBLEGUM ━ Nancy Wheeler ✓

Four: Party Animals

Sloane was quickly learning that parties were not her thing. There were far too many boozed out teenagers and far too much sweat. She never took herself to be a germaphobe, but this was too much for her. I need some fresh air, she thought to herself. In her effort to get out of Tina's house as soon as possible, Steve Harrington ran right into her. He looked distraught, so she grabbed his arm before he could run past her.

"Steve? What's up? What's wrong?" she asked gently, hoping he was able to hear her over the loud music.

The boy looked like he was holding back tears, shaking his head. "My whole relationship was a lie, everything is bullshit. I just, I gotta go, sorry." He left Sloane in a whirlwind of confusion, so naturally, she chased after him.

"Steve, Steve, hey," she ran after him, grabbing his arm as they ended up outside the house. The booming music was much quieter out here, but there were still many drunk teenagers roaming around. She stopped him in the middle of the porch. "What just happened?"

The boy sighed, his eyes glued to the ground as his hair fell in his face. In the glint of the moonlight, she saw a tear coming down his cheek. "I'm pretty sure Nancy and I just broke up. She doesn't love me. She never did. To her, I'm just another part of the bullshit that makes up this fucking town."

No part of her could find a good response to that. Instead, she chose to go out on a limb and pull the boy into a hug. He was almost a foot taller, but that didn't stop him from falling into her. Cold tears brushed against her skin as they soaked through her t-shirt and she rubbed his back softly. Although Sloane had never had her heart broken, she understood what it felt like to simply be completely defeated. She understood that feeling all too well.

"Steve, hey, did you drive here?" He nodded slowly, not moving from their position. "All right, give me your keys I haven't been drinking. I'm gonna take you back to my place, okay? I don't think you should be alone tonight. Is that okay?"

"I don't wanna be alone," he mumbled, pulling away from her. Digging his keys out of his pocket and handing them to the blonde, he began to lead them to his car. Sloane was shaking but she tried her best to hide it. She was sober and no matter what, she couldn't let Steve drive like this. Driving when broken lead to awful, terrible things. She knew this all too well. Once they were inside, her hands struggled to get the key into the ignition.

Steve, unfortunately, noticed this as he eyed her shaky actions curiously, "Are you okay?"

"Better than you," she shrugged as she was finally able to start the car. "What kinda music you got in here?"

"I don't want music. I wanna wallow in my sadness," Steve said with a deep sigh, leaning back against the headrest.

Sloane took a quick moment to glance at him and scoff, "Okay, I'm turning on the radio."

The soft sounds of a Go-Go's song began playing throughout the car, filling the silence. Sloane didn't know Steve all that well; only ever knew him as Nancy's boyfriend. This was something new, something weird. She felt like she was almost betraying Nancy by taking care of him. At the same time, though, Nancy had apparently completely wrecked this boy and Sloane was always one to pity a fool who fell in love. When they pulled up to Sloane's house on the other side of town, Steve was fast asleep. With a sigh, she got out of the car. Part of her felt bad for leaving Steve in there, but he was in a booze-induced coma and it was just for a moment. Moments later, she returned with a confused Elliot following close behind her. Together, they dragged Steve out of the car and into the house as quietly as they could.

"You gonna tell me why you're bringing home a drunk Steve Harrington?" Elliot questioned as they got Steve settled onto Elliot's bed. Originally, she wanted to just leave him on the couch downstairs, but bad things would happen if the boy was found by their parents. So, Elliot would be taking the floor in Sloane's room tonight.

"He's drunk and heartbroken, what was I supposed to do?" she shrugged as they whispered. Both of them left the room, Sloane closing the door as quietly as she could.

Elliot rolled his eyes, "And you drove here? You haven't driven since..."

"I know, I know, but I was not about to let him drive drunk. I wasn't going to put him or me in that situation and it was just the smarter choice. At least my situation won't cause me to involuntarily run a car into a tree. I was just... a little shaky, that's all. We got here in one piece, that's what matters."

"Thank God you did. Mom would kill you if you got into a crash."

"She'll kill me for anything. Which is why she absolutely cannot find out Steve is here. Got it?"

"You say that like I have ever snitched on you," Elliot scoffed. They both retreated to Sloane's room as she threw him a spare blanket and pillow. "Seriously, though, are you okay? I mean, this was like the first party you've ever been to and you left early, coming home with a drunken, crying boy. That's kind of a lot to handle."

Sloane shrugged, wiping off her smudged eyeliner and avoiding her brother's eyes. "Just add it to the list. What's new?"

"There's something about this town, I think," Elliot began, something too daunting and serious for his town, "I mean, did you hear about the kid who went missing last year? And a girl, too, your age. I don't like it here, small towns irk me. I do, however, like what this town as done to you. I can't remember the last time I saw you smile before we moved here, but I see you in the hallway every day laughing and smiling with your friends. You seem more like you than you ever have before. Do any of your friends know what happened?"

She shook her head, "No. And they're not going to. I don't want their idea of me to change. They don't need to know that to know the real me. I am not that girl anymore, that was the point of moving. I can move past that now."

"I'm proud of you, you know. For tonight and for everything since we moved here. You can only get better from here and I can see you trying."

Part of her had no idea what to say. Elliot had never said anything like that to her. They weren't usually siblings who poured feelings into each other and relied on each other, but here they were having two heart to hearts in two days.

After a beat of silence, she sighed, "Thank you. Now, let's get some sleep please, it's been a long night for me and at this point I just want it to be over."

"Goodnight," Elliot spoke, but something in the air hung there, telling her he was not done, "Carolina."

OoOoOoo a revelATION! I know these chapters have been way more emotion-based lately and probably kind of boring for you to read but as the teens get more involved with the plotline of season two, the story will start to pick up. Also, if any of you remember the first version of this story, i did say that Sloane's real first name was Carolina but i thought a reveal like this would be better so that's what i went with!