𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 -- s. harrington

→ two.

DANIEL MATTHEWS WASN'T too pleased when he got a call from the high school while at work to tell him that his daughter had in-school suspension. Without asking any questions to the school, he decided to wait until he got home from work to confront his oldest daughter and ask her what exactly she had done to get an in-school suspension for two days. Before the secretary could explain what had happened to him, he stopped her and told her that he would hear it from his daughter and wanted her side of the story, no one else's and that's exactly what he got.

          "You shoved that boy because he was making comments about you and Jonathan and said that Steve never cared about you?" Daniel questioned and sat down on the coffee table in front of his daughter who sat down nervously on the sofa, playing with the necklace he had given her for Christmas last year. A small smile crept onto Daniel's face and he leaned forward, giving his daughter's knee a tight squeeze. "Good for you, Andy!"

          Andrea lifted her head and furrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to speak but closed her lips seconds later after no words formed. Her father was proud of her for pushing a boy and getting two days of in-school suspension. "I don't get it..." her voice trailed off and she folded her arms over her chest. "You're proud of me?"

          Daniel nodded proudly and smiled at his daughter. "You stood up for yourself! I don't think you've ever done that before, Andy," he said and patted his daughter's knee before standing up and glancing down at his watch. "I'm just glad he didn't touch you because if he did I think I would've killed him," he said and looked down into his daughter's green eyes that reminded him too much of his late wife's. Daniel opened his mouth to speak again but was cut off by the doorbell ringing and echoing through the house. "I got it!" He called out and jogged over to the door, disappearing into the porch and out of Andrea's sight.

          Andrea sunk against the sofa and wiped her clammy hands on her jeans. The conversation with her father had gone a lot better than she had imagined it would. She and Jonathan for sure thought Daniel would chew her out and ground her for a month but instead, he was proud of his daughter and was praising her.

          "Andy! It's for you!" Daniel called out and narrowed his eyes at Steve Harrington who stood just outside of the door with a nervous smile on his face.

          Steve blinked as he stared into Daniel's intimidating blue eyes. He knew that Daniel knew about the distant relationship that Steve and Andrea had and there was no way that Steve could pretend the two were still best friends. Steve knew that Andrea was extremely close to her dad and ever since Andrea's mother died four years ago, the young girl got closer to her dad and started telling him anything and everything.

          Andrea pushed herself up from the sofa and strolled toward the front door, swinging her arms back and forth. She figured that whoever was at the door was Jonathan, that maybe he was dropping off something she might've left behind, but once her father stepped away from the open door and left the porch and Andrea pulled it open even further, she was truly disappointed. "I'm busy," she said bluntly and began closing the door.

          Steve shot his hand out and planted it flat against the door, keeping it from shutting and closing him off from the girl he thought about every day - the girl he regretted losing. He knew damn well it would take more than an apology to get her back but it was getting her back was something he wanted - needed to do. "Can we talk, Andy?"

          Goosebumps ran all over her body at the sound of him called her Andy. She hadn't heard him say that in over a year and it was like music to her ears. Hearing him say her nickname that he made up for her was like stepping outside on the first real day of summer, it warmed up her body and made her feel like a whole new person — but she couldn't forgive him, not for what he did. She couldn't forgive him that easily, he had to know what he did was wrong. "Why, Steve? So you can fill me in on you and Nancy? Because news flash, I got really Goddamn sick of it two years and I'm still sick of hearing about it."