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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
HE KNEW HE WAS PUSHING HIS LUCK WITH DYLAN. Steve watched through the glass window as Dylan and Billy argued amongst themselves. In a way, he was glad Billy had cut him off while he was talking. If not, words about how Dylan was special to him would have spilled from his lips. She wouldn't have liked that; she was too independent to be tied down with concrete feelings. It was the same with all the boys that had come and gone out of her life: she never took them serious and when she was bored someone was left with a broken heart — never her, though.
She was just warming up to him again and here he was ready to spill his guts about pent of feelings and recent epiphanies.
Dylan's yells could be heard from inside the diner as well as Billy's different variations of 'calm down.' As much as he hated to admit it, Billy might actually mean something to Dylan, making him a bigger obstacle to Steve than before. And he hated to say it even more but they pair did seem to be passionate with each other, whether that be anger or whatever else they did. Steve didn't want to picture those things.
After Nancy had dumped him, he expected to be lost, depressed even. But it wasn't like that — sure, he had been sad and then after the sadness came relief, like a huge anxiety had been lifted from him. It was easy to forget about Nancy when Dylan was around and that made him think. Maybe he had been thinking too hard because he was thinking about his friend like something else, something he may have wanted for awhile but he just hid it deep in his brain.
He watched the couple? he didn't know what to call them but whatever they were was enough to make his jealously flare. It was worse than usual as Steve hated Billy. He didn't deserve Dylan and that meant Billy Hargrove definitely did not.
Steve was an idiot. He knew that leaving Dylan in the dark for a year was a mistake but in a way he thought he was protecting her — that if she didn't know about the Upside Down and Barb's death — she would remain hopeful and happy. It was a naïve stance and it didn't work, instead it backfired, earning him Dylan's hatred. He still felt the distance between them, even now when Dylan claimed she was trying to forgive him.
When Steve looked back again, Dylan was stood outside by herself, a cigarette hanging from painted red lips. She breathed in and held it there for what felt like forever. He could tell she was stressed, smoking was what she did whenever things got a little difficult. He felt guilty about that, knowing he had caused her quite the bit of stress in the past several weeks.
Steve paid the tab and met her outside. He walked up to her nervously, his hands in his pockets. He didn't want to annoy her any further than she already was.
"Who does he think he is!" She spluttered our when she saw him. "God, what a moron. Nobody gets to say I'm theirs without my damn consent. I told him to keep this private!"
Dylan laughed to herself. "Go on, tell me 'I told you so.'"
"I told you so," he said weakly, without any conviction.
"No," she said with the shake of her head. "Don't pity me now. You've been telling me off for weeks — tell me off, I know you want to."
"You wanna know what I think?"
She nodded.
"I think you're beautiful and it's a waste to use that on someone like Billy," he told her, sincerity laced in every word. "I think you're afraid to actually let somebody like you. That's why you go for these shitty guys—Reed, David, Billy—but you don't realize you're the type a girl to make a man change his ways."
"So when they actually fall for you—which I figured impossible for Billy Hargrove—you fuck them over 'cause Dylan Holland is too cool to get her heart broken."
"C'mon," she glared. "That's bullshit. Where'd you hear that, some movie?"
"No." He said. "Came from my own head. You're an enigma but I've got you figured out."
"I don't like that."
"I know you don't." Steve grinned widely, smug he could get under her skin, even for just a moment.
Dylan frowned and threw the butt of her cigarette to the ground, stomping out the last of it's fire. She glanced behind him, at Billy's Camaro that was still parked. Billy leaned against the side of his car, a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth as he talked to a small brunette girl. He squinted at the girl, trying to figure her out. Jo something, he concluded. Nancy had mentioned her a couple times.
"You think the Billy Hargrove has fallen for me?" Dylan chuckled. "Then how come five minutes after calling me his girl, he's chatting up some other chick?"
"'Cause he's a moron." Steve shrugged. "He does like you, in his screwed up way, he just can't take a hit to the ego without lashing out."
She coughed. "I really reel in the good ones don't I?"
Steve wrapped in arm around her shoulders and guided her to his car. "If a nice guy liked you, Dyl—I don't think you'd know what to do with him."
He placed a brisk kiss on her forehead which made her laugh softly. He briefly looked at Billy once more, who was already looking, his eyes aflame. Steve didn't react, he just led Dylan to the car, feeling satisfied that he had something he could hold over Billy, if he wanted to. He never would, Dylan would kill him, but Steve was content to watch the other guy's displeasure.
"Hmmm," she hummed in thought. "I'm starting to think there's not a guy in this stupid town that could handle me."
I could, he thought to himself.
YOU EVER WRITE A CHAPTER AND GO — Why did I write this? That is this chapter for me. Anyway,,,,, I would die for Steve Harrington
