"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" I felt like that was becoming my catch phrase these last several weeks. Wyatt sat there in the passenger seat of the van fidgeting with the strings on one of the leather bracelets I have her. A few weeks ago this girl literally never shut up and now I have to work to pull words from her.

"Yeah, everything's good." She lied, not meeting my eyes. I frowned dramatically at her. "What? Eddie, I'm serious. Everything is ok."

"If you say so." I hoisted myself out of the driver side and she was already out by the time I managed to make it to her.

I leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, knowing that she would pull away. That was the norm lately. She gave my hand a squeeze. "I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

"Women are weird, Henderson." I leaned against the side of the van, finishing my cigarette lazily, watching her walk into school alone. The thing with her is I've learned to not push. The first few days of this was hell, but the more I pressed the issue, the more distant she made herself.

"Nope." Dustin laughed, "That's pretty much just her."

"If you say so." I muttered, stomping the cigarette out on the ground.

I was used to the fact that now at lunch she didn't sit with us either. I watched her take the seat with her friends like she did before. Just out of the blue she walked over to their table one day, she said that she just wanted some 'girl time'. That afternoon of girl time turned into weeks, melting into months.

She never really appeared to be talking to them either. Wherever I'd glance over she was just sitting there quietly. Whenever I'd ask, the answer was always the same: "Everything's fine."

After week two, when she stopped staying the night at my house, I caught Seth early morning before school.

"Now's not a good time, Eddie." Seth told me after hesitating a moment. "She'll come around, okay, she's just having a hard time right now."

The only real alone time I had with her anymore was the ride to pick Dustin off and drop him off after school.

"Maybe you did something and she's just waiting for you to figure it out?" Mike suggested at lunch, "El does the same thing when I've fucked up somehow. They make you figure it out."

"When have you ever known her to bite her tongue when something has pissed her off?" I reminded him. "That girl has no shame in making her feelings known."

"That's fair." Mike added.

I looked at Dustin, breaking my promise of not having anyone else do my dirty work for me, "Does Steve know anything?"

"Not that he said to me." Dustin said, "But then again Steve isn't the type to tell other people's business like that."

"That fucker." I muttered bitterly. "Fuck it." I sighed heavily as I stood up and went over to where she sat. The other three were talking to each other about something else, Wyatt resting her head on her elbows appearing bored.

The conversation stopped when I walked up and the silence caught Wyatt's attention and she looked over at me, a small smile appeared on her face. "Hey Eddie."

"Can we uh… go somewhere?" I asked her carefully, her friends eyeing me.

"I've got schoolwork to do, Eddie." She made a lame excuse.

"We can do it together." I reached for her hand and pulled her up, not waiting for her to come up with some other reason not to join me. "Come on."

She followed me quietly to our spot in the woods, "Have a seat in my office," I teased with a smile. Wyatt took the seat opposite me.

"What's this all about?" She asked.

"You tell me." I answered, "You're the one who has been ice cold lately."

She didn't answer and didn't meet my eyes. I grabbed her hands and held onto them, they were so cold. "Did I do something? You know I'm clueless with that stuff, princess. You know you have to tell me if I do something to upset you."

"You didn't Eddie."

"Okay, then why do I get this feeling that we aren't ok?" My eyes searched hers, waiting for them to give something away that I knew her mouth wasn't going to.

"You're just overthinking things." Lie.

"Wyatt, we've been dating for about half of a year now," I reminded. "And of that time we have spent almost every single day together. I'm not an idiot, I can tell when you're lying to me."

She didn't deny it. It took her a minute to answer, her voice soft and pleading. "Can you just accept that I'm not ready to talk about it?"

Great. I did fuck something up, I knew it. "No, I can't."

"Please?" Her green eyes were begging me.

"No." I remained firm. "We aren't ending this conversation until you give me something to go off of, I'm tired of backing down." I hated the look on her face. The look of fear. Why would she be afraid to tell me anything? It hurt me to the core.

It took her a minute to form words, mulling over what she was going to say. "I think…." She paused and took a deep breath. "I think we should just take some time for ourselves."

I felt my gut sink. "What?!" My suddenly loud voice made her jump, but I didn't have time to feel bad. "Are you trying to tell me you don't want to be with me anymore?!"

"I just think we should take the time to focus on other things, Eddie." She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Like you graduating, or me finding a job."

"Why don't you let me make that choice for myself? I'm doing just fine." I pulled my hands away from hers, standing up and pacing, trying to wear out my sudden rage. "I don't need you to tell me that I'm not doing enough."

She was biting her lower lip, her frequent nervous habit.

I took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of my nose trying to stave off the frustration. "You can't do this. You have no right to make that kind of choice for me."

"I'm making it for me," She was quiet, not meeting my eyes.

"No you're not." I sat back down across the table from her, reaching for her hands. "If you were doing this for you, you would have done this the day you started acting funny. You don't want to do this, I know you better than that."

Gently she pulled her hands out of mine and stood up, gathering her things. "I have to go, Eddie." I watched as she walked towards the school in shock, and when I gathered my head I ran after her.

She made it to the tree line before I grabbed at her wrist. "Wait, I'm not done.."

She jerked her arm out of my grasp. "Get off of me!"

I walked around to the front of her, blocking her path any way she tried to move. "I'm not letting you walk away from me."

"Eddie," Her voice was firm, "I want you to leave me alone!"

I felt the panic setting in, the weight on my chest unbearable. I looked down at her, shock still in my eyes. "Wyatt…please…"

The softness of my voice pulled her eyes to mine. They were guarded. I swallowed hard. I regretted dragging her out here. If I had just let things go on business as usual, we wouldn't be doing this. "Wyatt…. I love you."

It was the first time I had said those words to her, after all these months together. I felt stupid for holding them back so long as we stood here on the edge of the end. Nothing made sense to me anymore, not without her.

"Is there a problem here?" A voice that I hated almost more than anyone else's rang out protectively from behind me.

"We're kind of in the middle of something here, Harrington. So if you don't mind…"

"I was coming to collect Wyatt." Steve started moving toward her carefully. "We had plans."

I felt my heartbreak melting into rage as I looked between them, and it dawned on me what was going on. I took a step back from them. "So that's what this is? You're breaking up with me for Steve, is that right?"

Wyatt shook her head, immediately defensive and jumped forward after me. "No! Eddie.. That is–"

I couldn't hear her words, instinctively my hatred for Steve took over and I lunged for him, slamming his back into the oak tree hard. "I am going to fucking kill you, Harrington!" My fist made contact with his face and I felt my finger bone snap, but it didn't stop me from making contact with the other side too.

Steve shoved me back and took the chance to tackle me to the ground.

"Steve! Stop!" I heard Wyatt shriek in terror. Steve managed to get a few hits in before she tore him off of me by the collar of his shirt, "Please, both of you stop!"

But I couldn't stop. Years of hatred of Harrington added to the fact that I lost the one thing in this hick ass town that kept me out of any real trouble exploded a powder keg of rage that was dormant inside of me. I took the opportunity to lunge back at him and he stumbled back, knocking Wyatt to the ground with him. I climbed on top of him, ready to make him choke of his pretty little teeth, pulled my arm back and–

"Eddie, I'm pregnant!"

I felt the world around me spin for a second as her words halted every limb of my body, I stumbled back from him, eyes wide. I looked at her, "You're what?"

Steve was helping her off the ground before I could wrap my mind around anything she had just said to me. "Are you okay, Wimey?"

I felt immediately sick to my stomach and it wasn't from the amount of blood I swallowed from my busted lip. I picked up my jacket from the ground. "I can't fucking do this." I stormed off towards Big Bertha with a mixture of paralyzing fear and a seething rage. I didn't give either of them another glance as I peeled out of the parking lot with no destination in mind.

Wyatt was pregnant. Things started making sense now. The 'flu' she constantly had, her sudden crippling fear about her future, her efforts to find a job out of nowhere. That's when her words sunk in like a punch in the gut.

Wyatt didn't want to be with me anymore because she doesn't think I'm enough.

Eddie 'The Dumbass' Munson fell head over heels for a girl who literally this entire time was just looking for a good time. And now that shit gets real, she wants better. Hell, who am I kidding, she deserves better. What was I going to do with a kid? Fuck the kid up just like my parents did me? I have no money, no job. I'm 20 years old and still in fucking high school.

She was right.

I felt tears stinging my eyes as I slammed the van in park on the side of the road. I hit the dashboard with all the force I had in me. "FUCK!"

I shakily lit my cigarette, blaring some music to try and settle myself. I knew I had to go home eventually, but for now I was in no condition to drive. After a few songs, I watched as Harrington's car drove by and I could see her there in the rear seat, leaning her head against the window. Wyatt didn't look back at my van sitting on the side of the roadway.

I watched as his car drove down the winding road until I couldn't see them anymore. I hope that he knew how lucky he was. Steve Harrington had stolen everything I had left, and he didn't even have to try.