A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION
Ryan Fordman has lived next door to Steve Harrington her entire life. Her entire life, he'd always been a window away, occasionally shouting across the space between their houses. They were inseparable... at least, they we...
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Ryan drove through town, stopping to hang up flyers for Will in different stores, lampposts, and anywhere there was space. While she was trying to focus on the task at hand, she couldn't help but drift back to her confrontation with Steve in the hallway. She either thought about that or thought about whatever horrible thing could be happening to Will, there was no other option.
She had been silent for so long, prepared to let their friendship die out, working her way through the pain of losing Steve, just for him to show up in her life again, trying to act like nothing had changed. After everything that had happened between them, during everything she already had going on. It was like some cruel joke and she was tired of it.
So she snapped. She said those things she had kept buried inside for five months. They were things she had never, never spoken aloud, not even to herself. She had written them in her journal, she had thought them, but she'd never spoken about how much pain she felt after what Steve had done. Now she had and she had said them to him. Great.
She was so caught up in her own head, she almost didn't notice the police cars parked in front of Benny's when she pulled in. Almost.
Putting the car in park, Ryan slowly got out, hoping all the lights and excitement meant that Benny had managed to find Will. However, she just had a feeling that it wasn't about that at all. A few deputies stood outside the building, trying to keep people out of the scene, but it was easy to sneak past them when they weren't looking. Maybe she should tell Hopper about that later. He should know how bad his deputies were at keeping rogue teens out of police investigations.
She stepped into the diner, seeing the backs of her brother, Powell, Callahan, and Hopper. The diner was entirely empty except for them, it was eery. The only time she had ever seen the diner that empty was before closing, never in the middle of the day.
"Hey guys," Ryan greeted, her voice coming out shakily. "What's going on?"
Peter and Hopper whirled around quickly, trying to block the scene in front of them. They didn't do a great job of it as Ryan's hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide in horror. There, on one of the tables in the center of the dinner, Benny laid face down, a bullet straight through his head, dried blood covering his face. He was dead. The man was dead.
"Benny!" Ryan called out, her voice barely above a whisper. It was all she could manage. "Benny, no-"
Peter stopped her from getting any closer, but she kept trying to push past him. She was supposed to be working last night, she was supposed to be there. He'd called to give her the week off to help find Will. He was fine last night. Now, he was dead, his blood drying onto the table.
"Get her out of here, Fordman!" Hopper demanded. "That's an order!"
Peter didn't hesitate as he slung his arm around Ryan's waist, leading her out the back of the diner. He sat her down by the dumpsters outside, kneeling down to her level. "Hey, Ryan just breathe, okay?" He said as calmly as he could. "Breathe."
