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 stood behind the counter at Scoops Ahoy, restocking the napkins as Robin Buckley handed a customer their ice cream. In the back room, Steve was searching for spoons to replace all the ones missing from the giant bucket on the counter.
Everything had gone back to normal, the way things were before the Upside Down had taken control of their lives. Well, as normal as they could with everything they knew. Even better, El was finally able to go out into the world with the kids, just as long as she stayed away from places with droves of people.
Will was finally back to his old self as well, all of his episodes ending once the gate to the Upside Down was closed. He was smiling more, and he was having less nightmares. He was Will again.
A month before, Ryan had graduated Hawkins High as the valedictorian, somehow managing to maintain a perfect GPA while battling monsters and evil scientists. Her extended family had filled up the bleachers as she walked across the football field to receive her diploma. The kids cheered obnoxiously loud as both her and Steve walked the stage, waving up at their proud faces. They'd made it.
Originally, she was going to take the summer off before college, but wanting to spend time with her boyfriend trumped time off. That was another thing that had changed: Steve Harrington, the boy she had been in love with her entire life, was now her boyfriend, something she could never get used to saying. Steve Harrington was her boyfriend and she loved him more than life itself.
"Hey Ry!" Ryan looked up from the ice cream to see the kids waving as they walked in. They were another reason she took the job as an ice cream slinger. That was the way most of her jobs had been.
Mike dinged the bell, giving Ryan and Robin a small grin. Ryan grinned back, surveying the group. Max, Lucas, and Will stood behind him waiting impatiently as he repeatedly tapped the bell.
"Hey Dingus!" Robin called over her shoulder to the window in the back. "Your children are here!"
The window slid open, Steve sticking his head out to see the kids waiting, "Again? Seriously?"
Ryan let out a laugh as Mike tapped the bell again, waving the group behind the counter, "Give me a second, Robi. I'll be back."
"Yeah, get your children out of here. They're holding up the line." Robin waved her off, shaking her head as the kids walked behind the counter into their break room.
Steve held open the back door, watching as the kids walked through it, all marching down the empty hallway to see a screening of the new horror movie, "I swear, if anyone finds out about this—"
"We're dead!" All the kids exclaimed in unison, having heard the empty threat at least once a week since Steve and Ryan had gotten the job. In fact, once Ryan had learned that the kids could sneak into the movies without anyone noticing from their own back door, she immediately started sneaking them in on her own. Steve found out about it a week after and now here they were.
