Joe Keery Imagines

Too Soon After-Steve Harrington

I looked up, my heart sinking when I saw Steve chasing after Nancy.

"No," he said as he stopped her from getting another drink.

"Get off!"

"No, you've had enough."

"Screw you," she scoffed as she pulled out of his hold and got another drink.

"Nance, I'm serious," he sighed. "Hey, hey, hey, stop!"

I looked away, unlike many of our peers, as Steve tried to get Nancy to stop drinking. I walked away, heading to the bathroom. As I left, Nancy stormed past me and stumbled into the bathroom. Steve didn't even look at me as he chased after her. I wanted to walk away, but couldn't when I heard the water start running.

"Nance," Steve sighed. "I'm sorry."

After a few beats of silence, I heard him say, "That's not coming off, Nance."

"It's coming," she slurred.

"Come on," Steve said. "Let me take you home. Okay?"

He kept trying to get her to allow him to take her home until she cut him off.

"You wanted," she slurred, "you wanted this."

"No, I didn't want this," Steve said instantly. "I told you to stop drinking."

"Bullshit!" She yelled at him.

"No, it's not bullshit."

"It's bullshit," she repeated.

"It's not bullshit, Nance."

My heart sank at what she said next.

"No, you. You're bullshit."

"What?" I could hear Steve's voice break.

"You're pretending like everything's okay, ya know, like, like we didn't kill Barb." She continued to slur and it continued to get worse. "Like it's great, like we're in love and we're partying. Yeah, let's party, party, we're partying. This, this is bullshit."

I held my breath as I waited for his response.

"Like we're in love?" He repeated.

"Bullshit," she scoffed.

"You don't love me?"

"It's bullshit."

Neither one of them said anything else. I gasped and quickly turned to the side when the bathroom door swung open. Steve stormed past, not even noticing me. My heart sank as I watched his retreating form.

"Enjoy the show?"

I turned around to see Nancy barely standing in the doorway.

"I didn't. . ."

"Well, you can finally have him," she scoffed.

I gasped when she brushed past me. I watched, frozen as she left. I tried to recompose myself before going back to the party. Everyone was partying like nothing had happened. I searched the crowd but couldn't find Steve.

The next hour, I searched the house for him. Finally, I decided to go outside, and what I saw made my heart sink lower than it's ever been. He was sitting in the grass, surrounded by at least 2 six-packs of beers.

"Hey," I said gently. "You okay?"

"Nope," he laughed.

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" He asked, his voice coming off harsh. I wrapped my arms around myself and looked away. I could feel his eyes on me, but I ignored the feeling.