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 in the backseat of Peter's cruiser, staring out the window in silence. She had tried to stick with Nancy and Jonathan, but Peter had grabbed her arm, immediately steering her in the direction of his cruiser, separating the trio for the first time in days. They had ridden with Mike and El with Joyce while Dustin and Lucas had ridden with Axel and Hopper. It felt weird for her not having at least one of them with her.
"When were you in that place?" Peter asked her, staring out the windshield.
Ryan toyed with the pendant around her neck, "The Upside Down?"
"Yes," He nodded, wanting answers and wanting them immediately. "When?"
"Why were you gone last night?" She deflected, dragging the little sun around on its chain. She didn't want to talk about her time in the Upside Down, those ten minutes that felt like ten years. She had said enough about it already. "That's the real question."
"I asked you first."
"Okay Peter," She rolled her eyes. "This isn't really time to play games-"
"Just answer the question, Ryan." Aaron snapped, turning around to face her.
"Fine." She glared right back at him, crossing her arms as she started to explain. "Last night, the night of Will's funeral. Nancy, Jonathan, and I decided to search the places the demogorgan had been in the woods-"
"Wait, what?" Peter interrupted, glancing in the rearview mirror. "You guys just-"
"Okay, do you want to hear about it or not?" Ryan snapped. She didn't want to talk about it in the first place, but she was. The least he could do was shut up and listen. "Nancy and I got separated from Jonathan and we found an entrance to the Upside Down in a tree."
"AND YOU WENT INSIDE?" Peter all but shouted, turning to face her.
"HEY, HEY, HEY," Aaron yelled. "EYES ON THE ROAD!"
"No Peter, we knocked first and the demogorgan invited us in for coffee." Ryan rolled her eyes. "YES, WE WENT INSIDE!"
"God," Aaron muttered under his breath. "This family is so freaking chaotic."
"Shut up!" Ryan and Peter snapped together in perfect unison. Aaron rolled his eyes.
Peter pulled into the middle school parking lot, soon followed by Hopper and Joyce. No one moved to get out of the cruiser, their conversation nowhere near finished.
"You didn't answer my question, where were the two of you last night? I went home alone ready to tell you guys everything, but the only one at the house was-" Ryan stopped herself. It's not that she thought her brothers would disapprove of Steve staying with her, she just didn't want to drag up feelings at that very moment. There were much bigger things going on. "The point is, neither one of you were there, and then you were gone all day."
