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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The minute she walked into the house, Ryan was tackled in a group hug by her brothers. The contact knocked her off balance as her brothers held her tight, not letting go even though they were still in the doorway of the house.
"Guys, this all feels a little too Outsiders for me." Ryan choked out, feeling just a tiny bit suffocated. "I didn't just come from a burning building, you know."
The boys started to laugh, pulling away from the hug. Peter kissed the top of her head, "I'm just so glad you're okay."
"I'm glad you guys are okay too so I can kill you when this is all over!" Ryan smacked the boys upside the head, narrowing her eyes.
Peter and Aaron mumbled apologies, trying to come up with a good explanation as to why she had been left out of the loop. So far, all it came down to was them trying to protect her. For whatever reason they didn't learn from last year- Ryan was always going to be involved, they'd be lucky if she wasn't already ten steps ahead by the time they became a part of it.
She walked past them, patting Hopper on the arm as she walked into the living room. Will was laying on the couch asleep, Jonathan and Nancy looking over him. Behind her, Hopper growled into the phone, seemingly calling for reinforcements.
Kneeling next to Jonathan, Ryan brushed the hair out of Will's eyes, kissing him on the forehead, "We're gonna fix this, buddy, I promise."
Will didn't move, still asleep. She stood up, eyes still on the sleeping boy, finally looking like he was at peace for at least this moment. He had been through so much in the past year alone, this was the only moment she didn't see a single trace of stress on his small face. It sucked that it happened to be as he was drugged and fighting a monster that was possessing his little body.
She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Steve standing by the wall next to where Hopper was angrily snapping into the phone, looking down at his feet. She walked over, taking his hands, "Hey, you okay?"
"Crazy night, I should be asking you that." He said, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "This is your family."
Ryan leaned into his hand, looking up at him with pained eyes, "She lost Bob tonight- Joyce. He's gone."
"Shit." Steve sighed, leaning back against the wall. Ryan moved to stand next to him, looking at Will and Jonathan, Nancy sitting on the floor next to him as Steve slipped his hand into hers. "That's- shit."
"Why do we always lose someone?" She asked, though she wasn't truly expecting an answer. "Why can't we ever just win?"
Bob was dead. The same Bob that replaced her Walkman for free, made her a BLT for lunch when she had stayed over and he was there, snuck her full size candy bars on Halloween. He was just gone.
"I don't know, Sunshine." Steve said quietly. "I don't know."
Hopper yelled loudly in the kitchen before stomping out, letting out a loud sigh of exasperation. Ryan pulled Steve with her as she walked into the kitchen, immediately getting tackled by Mike. She let go of Steve's hand as Mike wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly.
