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 on her bed as Axel went through her collection of cassettes and records. After the new year rolled around, he and his mother were moving to California, trying to move as far away from the small town as possible.
After the news made its way through the town about Axel's father, neither one wanted to stick around. Axel's mother divorced Gregory Scott right before his trial and eventual imprisonment, declaring that her and Axel were going to move in with her divorced cousin across the country. Apparently, her ex husband had been a real piece of work too.
As a Christmas gift, Ryan decided to let Axel take one of her records or cassettes with him as a reminder of their friendship.
"Axe, really, you've been going through that crate for twenty minutes," Ryan rolled her eyes playfully, toying with the small wrapped box in her hand labeled for Steve. "I promise nothing new has appeared."
"I'm just making sure I pick the right Beatles record, geez." Axel laughed, moving the records aside again.
"Twist and Shout is on Please, Please Me dork." She reminded him, bouncing over to the crate. "Move over, I'll get it."
Axel leaned on her dresser, watching as she flipped through her records, finally pulling out Please, Please Me. She turned around facing him with a triumphant smile, "Here you go, good sir! And a Merry little Christmas to you!"
Axel laughed, shaking his head as he grabbed the record from her hands, "Thank you, Elf Queen was it?"
"Nuh uh, only the boys can call me that." She waved a finger in his face. "You hold no claim to that nickname."
Axel laughed, setting the record down on Ryan's bed before sitting down next to it. Ryan sat in her window seat, looking over at Axel's thoughtful face. Everything had changed so much in the past few weeks. It was insane, really.
"You know," He said suddenly, turning to face her. "I'm really going to miss this."
"Of course you are, I'm quite a riot, a joy to be around I've been told." Ryan joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"I'm serious, Ryan. I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too, Axe." Ryan smiled softly, looking down at her hands. "Things definitely aren't going to be the same without you."
Axel walked over to her, pulling her up with him for a hug, "You're my best friend, that won't change right?"
"Oh, I don't know, Nancy's already cleaning out your locker to move in and Tommy does a pretty good impression of your little angel laugh, so I think I could replace you." Ryan joked, looking up at Axel's serious face before walking past him. "Come on, Axe. Lighten up a bit. Let loose. Have a bit of fun before it's over, huh?"
"Ryan?"
"Yeah?" She turned around, as Axel grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him, kissing her softly on the lips.
