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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ryan sat in a chair next to Jonathan and Nancy in front of Peter's empty desk, looking down at her hands. They had been brought down to the station in the back of Callahan's cruiser, but the only one that had been cuffed was Jonathan. No one had talked the entire ride over, mainly because they had no idea what to say. It was the first time the three of them had been that silent in the past few days.
She looked over at Callahan, a massive bruise forming on his face, around his nose. He had taken the brunt of the fighting between Steve and Jonathan, blood and some dirt mixed on his face. Sighing, she walked over to his desk, forcing his chair to spin her direction.
"Ryan," He exclaimed as she took his glasses off his face to inspect his nose closer. "What are you doing?"
"Why didn't you listen to me?" Ryan scolded, much to the delight of Powell and Flo. She had told him the second they had walked into the station that he needed to clean his face up so she could see how badly he was injured. Just because he had arrested her and her friends didn't mean she wanted him to walk around looking like he had just walked out of a wrestling match he had lost. "I can't really see how bad your nose is unless you wash it off."
"That shit hurts, Fordman!" Callahan whined.
Ryan crossed her arms, making the sternest face she could manage, causing the older man to slump to the bathroom to clean his face. She glanced over at Nancy and Jonathan still sitting her brother's empty desk.
Powell leaned back in his seat, "Can I ask you a question, Little Fordman?"
Ryan turned back around to face him. "Am I going to like this question?"
"Probably not, but I'm going to ask it anyway," Powell admitted. "Why are you still hanging around the boy that broke your heart?"
Ryan sat down in Callahan's empty chair, feeling the weight of the question on her shoulders. The truth was, she didn't know why she kept allowing herself to forgive Steve every time he did something wrong. Even now, she knew she'd eventually forgive him. Sure, she was mad and she knew he was completely in the wrong, but there was just too much there. Something she couldn't explain.
"It's complicated." She admitted. It was the best answer she could give.
Powell gave her a knowing look, laughing slightly as Callahan entered the room. "It's not that complicated, Ryan."
"What's not that complicated?" Callahan asked, his nose still red from Jonathan's punch.
"The fact that your nose is most likely broken." Ryan said, trying to change the subject.
"All I'm saying is, that boy keeps screwing up." Powell continued, ignoring her obvious attempt at a subject change. "He ran from this fight that he most definitely started, and from the sounds of things, was involved in that graffiti on the Hawk's marquee."
