Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 8 The Body

November 10th, 1983
The Harrington Residence

   I think that was the first time in a while; feels more like in forever, that I've actually slept through the night. No nightmares, no panic attacks, nothing. I woke to the feeling of a feather-light touch, if I hadn't already been half-awake, I would've missed the feeling as they brushed the hair out of my face.

   Slowly opening my eyes, I found Steve staring down at me. It looked like he had just woken up, his hair was a mess and his eyelids still looked heavy. "Morning... Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He whispered softly, speaking as if I had caught him doing something wrong.

   Smiling slightly to myself, I shrugged off the comment as I rubbed away the remaining sleep from my eyes. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything that had led up to this point when it all suddenly came rushing back to me; more like crashing down on me. The event that led me to escape to Harrington's... and what a major mistake that would be.

   What was I thinking? Spending the night with Steve Harrington? That was wrong on so many levels... and I knew that. How was I going to explain any of this to Mom? To Jonathan? How do I explain this to Nancy? "Shit..." I mumbled under my breath, squinting my eyes closed at the thought of my friend. I need to get out of here...

    "I- I should probably get going... Thanks for everything." Pushing myself off the bed, I hurriedly pulled on my shoes, messily lacing them with the hope of getting out of there as quickly as I could. "See you at school." I called out over my shoulder as I moved towards the bedroom door.

   But none of that could stop Steve from following after me. "Woah, slow down. What's the rush? Come on, I'll take you home." I don't think I've ever heard Steve Harrington so unsure of himself. Lacking the false confidence he always seemed to radiate as he stumbled out of bed and rushed to throw on a shirt. 

   "No, it's okay. Really, you've done enough." Throwing on my jacket, I offered him an anxious smile as I reached for the doorknob. "Nellie, please. It's nothing-" "Look, you can't. So just stop, please." I pleaded, cutting him off before he could continue.

    His face shifted from one of confusion to realization. "Is it because of what happened yesterday with Jonathan?"  Shaking my head at the question, I furrowed my brow as I tried to form an appropriate answer.

   I mean, yes? No? Maybe... There is no simple answer when the problem is everywhere and every little thing.

   But of course, I didn't say that. I just stood there in my place silent while he looked down at me sadly. "I really am sorry about everything that happened... What I said, what I did. I was in the heat of the moment... I didn't think some things through, I know that."

   "No, no..." I shook my head in an attempt to stop him before offering him a small smile, "It's not about that, not right now at least...  But I'm not the one you should be apologizing to anyways." I mumbled the last part before continuing towards the door. "Thank you for your generosity last night. And you don't have to worry about me telling Nancy about... whatever that was last night. It was nothing."

   Deciding to not give him the chance to stop me from leaving again, I quickly opened the door before rushing down the stairs and out of the house. Moving down the driveway, I jumped on Will's bike and pedaled towards my house, not bothering to look behind me as I left Steve's.