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 Fordman sat behind the counter guarding the register at the Palace Arcade reading The Phantom of the Opera, waiting for her shift to end so she could go on break. After the events of last year, she had taken the job to keep a better eye on the kids. After all, they started going there almost every day once the New Year rolled in, playing animated versions of their D&D games.
Everything had gone back to the way they were before the Upside Down, at least, in the ways that counted. No one was fighting inter dimensional monsters and no one was being hunted down by evil scientists, as far as Ryan knew.
There definitely were some changes in her life, there was no doubt about it. Benny had left everything to the Fordman's, the closest thing to a family the man had, which is how Aaron had ended up buying the Hideaway Pub, turning it into a new hot spot for locals. It was still called the Hideaway Pub, but there was now a dedication plaque underneath the sign for Benny, the man that had made it all possible. It helped that Aaron had actually become one of the best cooks over the past year.
His food was amazing, no one dying from food poisoning. The first time Peter, Hopper, and Ryan had eaten his food, they all expected to have to call 911 to revive one of them. Instead, they went back for seconds. The Pub was always busy, meaning Aaron was always busy. It was good for him, Ryan loved that he had finally found something he loved to do.
Ryan's old friend Axel Scott had moved to California with his mother after the earth shattering revelation that his father had murdered Shay and Richard Fordman, Ryan's parents. After something like that, and the disastrous kiss on Christmas, no one expected Ryan to still be in contact with the boy like she was. He was doing pretty well, his mother's cousin liked to surf and hang out by the beach a lot, taking Axel and his mother with her. Her past marriage had gone down the drain as well, apparently the women in Axel's family had a curse of choosing abusive or murderous partners.
Ryan used to think if Axel left, she'd be alone in the town, just Jonathan and the kids to turn to. It wasn't a bad thing, but she was a people person, something neither the kids nor Jonathan were. However, she wasn't alone.
During the hell week of Will's disappearance into the Upside Down, Ryan had joined forces with Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan to destroy the monster that had tormented their friends and family. Over the past year, the two girls had grown incredibly close, practically sisters. There was no one in her life Ryan trusted more, except her family and Steve.
Steve Harrington, the King of Hawkins, the guy who had everything, otherwise known as Batboy, Ryan's best friend. After months being apart from each other, Ryan and Steve were back at each other's sides like those five months apart had never happened, like nothing had changed- yet, that was not the case at all.
No matter how many times Ryan denied it, no matter how many times she ignored it, she couldn't push away the fact that things had changed with her and Steve- at least for her. But he was her best friend, not only that, but he was dating her other best friend and was totally in love with her. It was better for Ryan to deny and push her feelings away than to acknowledge them.
