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 sat across from Nancy at Jack's Diner downtown, a plate of fries in between them. Nancy had explained Jonathan's plan to enlarge the photo he had taken of Barb at Steve's pool, a shot to take a closer look at the creature behind Barb. It was a good plan, a solid plan. Now, they were sitting in a comfortable, thoughtful silence.
At least, they were until Nancy spoke up, "What happened?"
Ryan knew exactly what she was asking about, but decided to play it dumb anyway, "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean." Nancy said, not falling for it. "Why was Axel so angry at you?" Ryan took a small sip of her Coke as she continued. "Why does he hate me?"
"Woah, no one said he hated you." Ryan threw her hand up to halt the rest of Nancy's questions. "Axel doesn't hate you, he just isn't so jazzed about the people you hang out with. I guess as of this moment, that includes me."
"To be honest, I don't really like them either." Nancy admitted. "Carol and Tommy just come as a package deal with Steve."
"They used to not be." Ryan sighed, looking down at the plate of half-eaten fries. It used to be her and Axel he couldn't live without. They used to be the package deal.
Though things with Steve were improving and she found herself starting to feel like she could trust him again, things were different. She knew they would be, she just wasn't expecting it to be so quick and easy, yet bumpy and difficult at the same time.
Nancy looked at the girl across from her, staring at the plate of fries in careful thought, like she was thinking about old times. She had no idea what Ryan and Steve had gone through before she came along that broke up their friendship, but it seemed to have an effect on everyone involved. The only thing Nancy knew about was the fact that Steve seemed to be trying to fix things with his old best friend, an idea she fully supported.
"I didn't know him back then, but I knew of him— and I knew about you." Nancy admitted. Ryan looked up in surprise. She didn't know why she was, her and Steve used to be attached at the hip before summer of '83. It just seemed that everyone else had forgotten. "I don't know what happened and you don't need to tell me right now, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. Whatever you need."
Ryan leaned back in her seat, "You hardly know me."
"Yet we've already been through a lot together." Nancy fired back. "I'm your friend alright?"
Ryan looked up at the brunette across from her, taking in her sincere and determined expression. She couldn't remember the last time someone had been so keen on being known as her friend, let alone the last time she talked to someone outside of her inner circle in general.
"I've never had a girl friend before," She admitted. "I don't really know how these things work."
"I would think it's just like being friends with a guy, only better because girls understand girls." Nancy smiled, laughing slightly. "Boys just don't get that all the time, ridiculous really."
