YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I SAW !
☀︎
ALEX HAD BEEN SAT ON HER FLOOR FOR WHAT HAD FELT LIKE HOURS. All she could do was stare down at the floor, anxiously chewing at her fingernails as she forced herself to replay every moment again. She forced herself through this torture, knowing that if she had kept it together, there was a chance to find Will or Barb inside of that place. Even worse, sometimes her mind had wandered towards the thought of what the monster had done to the deer, fearful of what it could've done to someone like Will Byers.
For once that night, her mind had been brought elsewhere. It had been the sound of taps against her window. Her heart rate had picked up as the taps had grown louder and more persistent. Letting out a heavy breath of air, she stood up on her shaky legs. Sitting on top of the bed had been Jonathan's baseball bat-- a decent weapon to fight off something for a moment-- at least until someone could call the police. Maybe even Jim Hopper would come and stop all of this.
Her fingertips had grazed the handle just before another tap had followed. This had caused her to wrap her hand tightly around it to the point that her knuckles had turned white. Releasing a free hand, she hesitantly reached for the curtains before yanking them open and raising the bat higher in the air.
Outside the window stood no monster. It was only Steve Harrington with a concerned look spreading across his face. Sighing deeply, she dropped the bat down to her side before resting it against the wall. Pulling open her window, she motioned for him to come in, not returning a smile that he had given her. He had been thrilled to see someone he wasn't currently outraged with and her not being as happy felt heart-wrenching.
She had grabbed a blanket off of a chair, heading to her bed, and took a seat, placing it over herself. It wasn't much, but she hoped it was enough to hide her shakiness from him. His attention had been more on the bat that she once had held onto. "Jesus, Alex. Were you gonna hit me?"
Steve took a seat beside her, looking her over with his eyebrows pulled together in concern. She hadn't spoken a word to him which was unusual. Even if she was angry, she always had something to say. He shook it off and decided to speak about what had been on his mind. "Okay, well, you won't believe what I just saw." Silence had only followed, so he continued. "I went to check on Nance, see if she changed her mind about going to the movies tonight. Instead, I see her and Jonathan Byers snuggled up on her bed together."
For the first time, Alex turned and met his eyes. "It's nothing. Believe me."
"Look, I know you're his friend, but you don't know everything about him, okay?" He had expected to get a rise out of her or even the smallest glare. Yet, she turned away from him without any kind of reaction. He frowned. "Are you okay, Alex?"
"I'm fine," she whispered, her voice small and filled with pain. Immediately he knew that this was a lie. Scooting closer, he placed his leg against hers and his hand on her back as he watched her closely. It was similar to the exact thing between Nancy and Jonathan. And just like Nancy, Steve had denied his feelings for the person sitting beside him.
The touch of Steve had brought tears to her eyes as she looked out in front of her. It was an unimaginable warmth that had flooded her. The best feeling she had felt since the monster. Her head turned in his direction, with her eyes welled up with tears, preparing to tell him all that she knew. It felt awful keeping something this important from him, and for him to be the one here to actually cause her to feel warmth, felt like the only option. But that moment was stolen as the vomit in her throat had resurfaced.
Alex had thrown the blanket off of herself and onto Steve as she raced out of her room, slamming her door shut behind her. Every last thing that had been in her stomach had found its way out and into the toilet. When she had finished, she stayed sitting on the bathroom floor, appreciating the coldness and holding in the sobs she could feel bubbling up.
It was quiet, but there was a knock. On the other side of the door, Steve's head had been leaned up against the door as he knocked once more with a single knuckle. He gently called out her name, hoping she would unlock the door for him. Quickly standing up, she straightened out her pajamas as she flushed the toilet and made her way towards the door.
Not saying a word, she opened the door and slipped her way passed Steve. However, he had followed right after her, still confused about what had been wrong. "Are you hungover?" he whispered as he shut her bedroom door shut behind him.
"No," she whispered, climbing right into her bed. Getting under the covers, she had reevaluated the conditions of telling Steve. It was very well that he could think she was crazy just as those had thought about Joyce Byers, or worse, he could end up just as she did.
Steve came to the edge of her bed, sitting down as he looked down at her. "Will you please tell me what's wrong then? I know we've been kinda in a rough spot... but you can still talk to me. I'll always be there for you, you know."
"I just don't feel good," she claimed.
"That's bullshit, Alex. Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?" He asked, looking all over her. Steve then caught sight of her arm where it was cut up badly from falling in the Upside Down. She quickly stowed it under her blanket, not looking up at Steve, "No one hurt me."
"Listen, if someone hurt you, tell me and I'll go..."
His words were cut off by hers. "Don't. No one hurt me. I promise. I just fell."
Steve grew silent, hoping that she'd open up soon. When it became clear to him she wouldn't. He finally spoke up, "Just tell me what's on your mind."
Alex's mind had raced. There were too many things on her mind that she wasn't even sure where to begin. Tonight had felt as if her life was completely turned upside down and that it was not going to get better from here. None of this Steve would understand. Then something he would understand came to mind. "Tommy and Carol are right. You shouldn't hang out with me anymore... I'm always going to be a freak and I know you don't want to be labeled as that." Tommy had much to say about Alex as it was already. If he had discovered that she had claimed to see a monster, one that had done something horrifying to her, she knew his choice of insults would become much worse. And Steve had understood her issues with Tommy much more than he could understand anything she had seen tonight.
"What? No way. Tommy and Carol are just assholes. I'm not gonna stop hanging out with you."
"I don't know if we can be friends anymore," Alex said finally. It was the only way she knew Steve would lay off her and it made her think she could finally push away the feelings she felt for him. Even so, she could push him away before he could become involved in the very thing she was in now.
Steve didn't take what she said lightly. He felt his heart shatter and all he wanted was for her to look at him. Her eyes had stayed off of him the entire time but even he had seen the hurt.
"Wh-- Are you serious? You don't think we should be friends? We've been friends since you moved here. I was your first friend."
Alex remained silent, just wanting Steve to leave. It would only hurt more to fight with him, and even worse to keep lying about what had happened to her.
"Alex," his tone was much softer now, almost pleading with her. "Please just look at me." Gently, he turned her shoulder so that she had no choice but to look at him. The moment her eyes had found his, he felt he couldn't understand even more than before. "Why are you saying this?"
"We're so different now. I just..." Alex had pressed her lips together briefly as she tried to bring herself to push him away. "I don't want to be friends with you anymore."
"I thought that we were..." He wanted to tell her how he had thought that there was much more to their friendship. It was something he had never felt with anyone else which only had confused him more. But tonight didn't feel right. Not when Alex had been in this state of mind. "I don't care. I still want to be your friend. Why don't you get dressed and we go catch a movie tonight? Just pretend things are normal for a little bit." Attempting to bring a smile to his face, he leaned down a little further. "All the Right Moves is playing," he whispered playfully. "Come on, I know you've been wanting to see it."
"I can't," she said regretfully. "You should go. Can you get Dustin for me?"
Steve looked at her for a moment, wanting her to give in and let him stay but he knew she wouldn't even consider it. With a deep sigh, he got up and headed out to the living room where Dustin was passed out with the tv on.
Before waking Dustin up, Steve pulled out the picture he had in his pocket of Alex. He knew she was mad because he ditched her that night, but was wondering why she'd be so upset to cry. It wasn't like Alex hadn't seen Steve with a real girlfriend before. He had the idea that maybe there was a chance that Alex liked him more than a friend and he really did hurt her more than he knew. Thinking that idea was too outrageous, he quickly folded up the picture and shoved it back into his pocket.
Steve gently shook Dustin awake, telling the younger Henderson that something was wrong with his sister and she wanted him. Dustin grumbled something that he couldn't understand, stretching as much as he could before getting up.
"Damn, it must be important if she doesn't want you," Dustin laughed. Steve faked a smile, ushering him back to Alex's room only to find her under the covers, curled in a ball, and fast asleep.
"Ugh, she's already asleep," Dustin groaned, leaving to grab a pillow and blanket, tossing them on the floor next to her bed so he could be there in case she woke up.
"I'm gonna go then. You let me know if anything happens, okay? And have her call me tomorrow." Steve gave Alex one last look before climbing out the window and leaving both the Hendersons alone for the night. As his feet had landed in the grass, he ran his fingers through his hair as he looked out around him. Tonight had not gone at all as he had imagined it. Not only did he feel like he had lost Nancy to Jonathan Byers, he knew that Alex was slipping away from him and there was nothing that he could do about it.