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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"Hey Ryan. Mind if I sit down for a minute?"
Ryan glanced up from her book, meeting the eyes of Steve Harrington. For the first time, she actually didn't have a sarcastic retort, nor did she feel like coming up with one. Instead, she moved back over, allowing him to sit down next to her where Nancy her sat just a minute before. She didn't know why she'd let him sit, but she did. Now, they were sitting in a weird silence.
Steve sat down, surprised she had even allowed him to sit down in the first place. He didn't know what to start with, there was so much he wanted to say. He truly didn't think he would get this far.
"Look," Ryan started for him. She just wanted to get this done and over with. She had enough on her mind as it was. "I don't want to have another weird silence before you start speaking. Nancy and I just did that a little bit ago."
"Which was already weird." He said, unable to stop the words from leaving his lips. "I didn't know the two of you were friends."
"I didn't either until five minutes ago." She admitted. "I like her, don't ruin it."
Steve turned around in his spot, leaning his back was against the table, studying her closely. Five months apart didn't erase his ability to tell exactly what emotions she thought she was hiding; he could still read her like a book. The hurt, the exhaustion, the sincerity about Nancy, the grief- he could see it all.
"You mean, like how I ruined things with us?" He asked, though it was more of a simple statement. Ryan looked up in surprise at his words. It was the first time Steve had openly taken the blame for what had occurred in the hallway the day before summer. Every other time he had tried to talk to her, his words always started with "you've got to understand" followed by something she didn't want to understand. She nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak. Steve sighed, "That's what I figured."
"I would say it's nothing personal, but I'd be lying. It is personal." Ryan sighed, running a hand through her hair. She liked Nancy, she was sweet, she didn't deserve to go through what Ryan had gone through. Not at all. "I don't want her to have to go through that okay? She's a sweet girl and she's going through some stuff right now."
"Sounds like someone else I know." Steve said quietly. Ryan shut her book again, turning to face him completely. "I heard about Benny and what happened yesterday."
"How did you find out?" She breathed. "Nancy didn't even know about it, only my teachers do."
"Axel told me." Ryan's eyes grew wide. Steve was talking to Axel again? Since when? As if he could read her mind, he spoke again, "No, we're not talking, I was just asking him where to find you, and let me tell you how very explicitly he told me to back off."
Ryan rolled her eyes, not wanting to hear any of the testosterone filled story. Instead, she focused on the one positive. Steve was there. He was listening, he was learning. He had gone out of his way to find her. That had to count for something right? Didn't it?
