𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐏𝐒𝐄
𝟎𝟔. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬
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THE STREETS WERE SILENT as Lorelei arrived home at half past midnight on Halloween night. She steps were clumsy and her demeanor closed off as she waddled over to her front door as quietly as she possibly could. The drinks that she had consumed at the party had slowly melted away from the initial intoxicating feeling - and now all she felt was the emptiness that came after the desired effects of alcohol left.
She opened the door to her house carefully, not wishing to make any noise that would disrupt her fathers sleep. No matter how much he tried to hide it, Lorelei could tell that something was worrying her father - she just did not know what it was. The door shut behind her and she reached down to remove the boots from her feet, leaving only socks around them as she walked up the stairs and into her bedroom.
The moment she shut the door of her bedroom behind her, Lorelei immediately leaned up against it and breathed out a deep sigh. She placed the boots down on the floor and a deep yawn erupted from within her chest, her eyes closing as she realized just how exhausted she was. Turns out that going to this party might have been a detrimental factor to her sleep schedule - who would have thought?
After another moment of silence, Lorelei walked over to her bed, not even willing herself to remove her clothes or makeup. She just needed to rest her head for a few minutes whilst she waited for the room to stop spinning. Just a few minutes.
Turns out that a "few minutes" took a little longer than expected as she looked up at the ceiling with wide eyes. It felt as though she was floating in the middle of the ocean, lost at sea, as the the room twisted and spun right before her eyes. One of the oh-so amazing after effects of drinking all your troubles away - the feeling that you're floating away from them.
A loud noise from outside snapped her out of the drunken daze she had found herself in and Lorelei groaned under her breath before she lifted her body up from the bed and marched over to the window. Who on earth was the absolute dipshit that was making noise at nearly one in the damn morning? While Lorelei was trying to avoid a catastrophic headache, no less.
She pried open her curtains and what she saw was of no surprise to her. Steve Harrington. Of course - of course he had to be the absolute dipshit that was disrupting her rest. She was about to open the window, curse him out and close it once more when she noticed just how upset he was. Even from far away, Lorelei could tell that the look on his face was one that could only be described as pure heartbreak.
Steve Harringtons heart was breaking - and Lorelei Keller seemed to be the only person around to witness it.
She thought of her next more very carefully. There was always the opportunity of shutting the curtains once more, heading back to bed and forgetting all about this - after all, it wasn't as if they were friends, far from it. But still, she knew what it was like to feel alone, with absolutely no one to talk to, and as much as she had a deep dislike for Steve Harrington, he didn't deserve that.
So, against all the nerves in her body that were telling her not to, Lorelei Keller hesitantly opened the window and leaned her head out of it. Through the complete silence, Steve was able to pick up the creaky sound of the window being pulled open and his head snapped in Lorelei's direction. They had both been expecting him to roll his eyes and tell her to fuck off, but for a moment, Steve Harrington simply stared up and Lorelei, his eyes hollow and his mouth downturned. She never thought that she would see him this way.
"I um- I know that I said I would never ask to chat again but alcohol makes me more sensitive so-" Lorelei spoke up, her voice hushed and reserved merely for him "I was wondering if you wanted to talk?"
Steve looked up at her for a few moments, his eyes trying to read her expression and look for any signs that she was mocking him. But she looked genuine - for the first time since they had first laid eyes on each other, Lorelei was looking at him with genuine eyes. He swallowed a lump in his throat, contemplating his next actions before looking down for a moment.
"Did you hit your head or something, Keller?" he asked with a chuckle that was anything but happy.
"Maybe I did," she shrugged "but it's late, my head won't stop spinning and you look as if someone just killed your puppy - a talk could do you some good."
He stayed silent for a moment, brown eyes looking up at her as she stood near her window, hair blowing with the soft breeze and eyes looking cloudy with exhaustion and a hint of intoxication. After being told that he as bullshit and apparently unlovable, having someone - even if that person was Lorelei Keller, offer to talk with him and just be there was quite the surprise.
"I promise I'm not so bad, Harrington," she smiled at his hesitant expression "you can just talk, and I'll listen, or if you want I can talk and you can listen. God knows I have things I need to get off my chest."
"And there isn't anyone around other than me for you to talk with?" Steve asked slowly.
"Apparently not," she replied, her eyes looking down at her hands "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not that great at opening up to new people."
She looked up from her hands after a beat of silence, slightly worried that he had just walked away and left her there. But as she turned back to the Harrington backyard, he was right there, looking more vulnerable than she had seen him before. If anyone had told her she would be trying to convince Steve Harrington to chat with her at midnight of Halloween night no less when she had first arrived, she would have laughed in their face. But things were different now.
"The offer stands, Harrington," she spoke once more "but if you keep looking at me in silence, I'm gonna go back to bed."
"Fine," he said carefully "come down then."
Lorelei smiled softly, her eyes lingering on him for another moment before she shut the window and headed out of her room and out of her head. Who would have thought? Lorelei Keller walking out of her house to chat with Steve Harrington in the middle of the night. Alcohol really did work in mysterious ways.
By the time she opened the door to her house, Steve was standing there, his complete Halloween costume still on, except for his glasses, and his hair sitting messily atop his head, as if he had run his fingers through it fifty times already.
She shut the door behind her as quietly as possible before walking over to her porch steps and sitting down. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw how Steve hesitated for a moment, his movements shaky and unsure before he followed her lead and sat down next to her.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked after a while, eyes looking ahead at the sky "I thought you hated me."
"Don't be dramatic, Harrington," Lorelei laughed under her breath "I don't hate you - I don't have a particular liking for you, but I don't hate you."
Her eyes turned to stare at the side of his face, observing him for a moment from the close up angle that she had. His lip was stuck between his teeth as he bit down on it, and his hands were woven together tightly as he looked down at them through his eyelashes. She had never seen a teenage boy look so absolutely heartbroken.
"You wanna talk about it?" she asked under her breath, eyes surveying the side of his face carefully.
"I don't know," he shrugged before running a hand over his face.
"How about I talk then?" she offered.
Steve nodded his head quietly, still refusing to meet her eyes as he breathed in deeply through his nose. She looked away from him, knowing that what she was about to say to him was something that she would most likely regret in the morning. But she didn't care much in that moment, after all, what did it matter if Steve Harrington knew about her issues? It's not as if she would ever need to talk to him. They were just two strangers sitting under the stars, each trying to make sense of their own fucked up lives.
"I think you may have noticed this already, but I hate this place," she started speaking, her voice turning softer.
"It's pretty obvious," Steve mumbled as he picked his fingernail for a moment.
"But I don't think it's because of the place itself - or the people for that matter," Lorelei admitted "I think it's because of what this place makes me feel, you know?"
"Um- no?" he twisted his face for a moment.
"I just don't feel like this is the place for me," she deflated her shoulders "I mean - nothing about this place feels like home. It just feels like my world has been turned upside down and the world just told me to deal with it and move on."
Steve stayed silent as she spoke, and when she stopped for a while, he gathered the courage to look over at her. His eyes observed the side of her face, taking note of the slope of her nose, the hairs that were curled away from her face, and finally, the way her eyes seemed to be lost somewhere else. Or maybe she was lost - he couldn't tell.
"I don't know - it sounds stupid now that I said it," she admitted suddenly.
"No," Steve shook his head "I get what you're saying."
"I'm not usually like this," she turned her eyes to look over at him "this closed off, I mean. I'm just scared that I'll find something to like about this place - and then I'll get hurt all over again."
She bit her tongue to stop herself from saying anything else. There was no reason for her to be sitting on the front steps of her porch and talking with Steve Harrington. It all felt so unlike what she had become - but maybe that was what she needed; to step out of the wall she had built for herself and just talk.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this," she chuckled, her fingers smoothing down the material of her skirt "you don't know me, and I don't know you - I blame the beer."
"Maybe we could change that," he offered reluctantly, as if testing the waters.
"What are you on about, Harrington?" Lorelei asked carefully, her eyes staring into his.
"I don't know," he shrugged "we're going to be living next to each other and we go to the same school, right? We might as well know whose sleeping on the neighboring house."
"Alright, I'll allow it," she smiled for a quick moment "just this once though - ask away."
"Let's start simple," he turned his body so it was facing her's "favorite band?"
"That question is anything but simple," Lorelei laughed "I'll show you my mixtape sometime."
"Fine," Steve dragged out, searching his mind for another question "um- why did you move here?"
Lorelei was suddenly taken aback, and the smile that had been on her face melted away. It was clear to Steve that he had messed up the second she turned her body away from him and rested her arms on her knees - he had pushed too far. Of course he had, he was bullshit after all.
"I'm sorry," he stuttered out "I shouldn't have asked."
"It's fine Harrington," Lorelei mumbled "it was the usual - parents divorce, mom runs away, daddy and daughter have to move somewhere else because the memories at the old house are too painful."
"Oh," Steve breathed out, his shoulders deflating. That explained a whole hell of a lot.
"Yeah, oh." Lorelei scoffed.
Suddenly this all seemed like a really bad idea to Lorelei. She should have just climbed into her warm bedsheets and stayed away from Steve Harrington and his melancholic eyes. Now that the alcohol had completely lost its effects, having a friendly chat with him seemed to be the worst thing she had ever offered to do. Because now he knew her, more than most people did, and no matter how little significance that may be to Steve, it was worrying for her.
She was about to stand up and just leave him alone on her porch when his eyes turned to her once more and he opened his mouth. Lorelei watched carefully, noticing how he seemed to contemplate what he was doing, the gears in his head turning carefully.
"She said I was bullshit," he suddenly said.
"What?" Lorelei knitted her brows together "who did?"
"Nancy," Steve mumbled, his fingers paying with his jeans "can you believe it? She just looked me in the eye and told me I was bullshit - that she didn't love me and that our relationship was just this crap disguise or something."
Lorelei was slightly surprised by this. Sure, Nancy had looked pissed off at the party, but still, what type of girlfriend called her boyfriend bullshit? Seemed like a pretty shitty thing to do - even for Lorelei's standards. Who would have thought this would happen to Steve Harrington and Princess Wheeler. This night had been full of twists and turns.
"She was drunk out of her mind, Steve," Lorelei tried to comfort.
"You're drunk too," he scoffed "would you have said what she did?"
"Well - no, but," Lorelei stammered for a moment before she averted her eyes from Steve and looked out at the stars.
"Exactly," he nodded his head once before clicking his tongue "maybe she was right though - I mean, maybe it is all bullshit. Maybe I've been such a shitty boyfriend that I hadn't even noticed how upset she was."
"I may not be your biggest fan, Harrington - but based off the way were taking care of her all night, you don't seem to be a very shitty boyfriend," Lorelei whispered out.
"I don't think so, Keller -" Steve shook his head "you didn't know me before; I was a complete douchebag. And I don't know, shit - maybe I haven't changed that much."
"Maybe," she nodded before looking over at him "but maybe it's not your fault or hers. Maybe it was just a shitty relationship. Some people aren't meant to stay forever, trust me, I would know."
Steve thought of what she said for a moment, his mind replaying that moment with Nancy over and over again. That one minute that seemed to last forever. Perhaps Lorelei was right and the relationship had just run its course. But there was that sense of familiarity with Nancy that he didn't want to let go of. After all, who would be there for him once he did?
"This will pass, you know," Lorelei nudged his shoulder with hers for a split second "in a few years, you'll forget all about Nancy Wheeler, Tina's party, and me."
"No, I don't think so," Steve whispered out, his eyes turning to meet her's for a moment.
Lorelei stared back at him for a moment, and she realized just how easy he was to read in that moment. It seemed as though Nancy's words had cut deeper than a knife into him, and Lorelei noticed just how important other peoples opinions of him were to him.
"You're not bullshit," she told him carefully, her hand reaching over to touch his shoulder before she realized what she was doing and pulled away.
"Then why do I feel like it?" he mumbled under his breath.
"That's a question only you can answer, Harrington," Lorelei shook her head.
Never would she have thought that she would be comforting Steve Harrington on her porch, but Lorelei felt bad for him. Maybe he really wasn't the worst neighbor that she could have gotten stuck with.
After another minute of silence, Lorelei noticed just how tired she was and she let out a yawn in the back of her hand. She was growing increasingly tired, and based off how Steve was silently sitting next to her, it seemed as though he was tired as well. A good nights sleep was what they both needed - or at least, it's what they thought they needed.
"It's late," she spoke up, already standing as she did so "I think it's time we go to bed."
Steve nodded his head and slowly stood up from the porch steps, mind still feeling hazy and confused as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that he had spent the last half hour sitting on Lorelei Keller's front porch. He turned to her for a moment and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, rolling back and forth on his feet as he waited for something else to be said.
"This was interesting, Harrington," Lorelei smiled slightly "I don't think it will likely happen again but as far as chats go - I'd say this was a success."
"Yeah," he smiled lightly "I'd say so too."
Silence was once more instilled, and for a moment only their soft breaths and crickets could be heard, accompanied by the whistling of the wind. Neither of them would acknowledge it, but something had changed between them on those front porch steps - they didn't know what it was, or how exactly it had happened. But there was definitely something different.
"Well, goodnight," Lorelei spoke first, sending him one last smile before she walked away and headed inside her house.
Steve watched her go and shut the door behind her, his teeth biting the inside of his cheek as he stood for a moment. He was now more certain than ever that Lorelei Keller was a mystery in its finest. He just didn't know if he wanted to find out more or just let it be. Still, his priority was Nancy - who he was certain had practically dumped him, but still, Nancy Wheeler was the girl he wanted. This thought lingered for a while, and after everything, he wondered if that was even true anymore.
"Goodnight, Keller," he whispered under his breath, glancing at the door one last time before he turned on his heel and headed back home.
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