This is shorter then intended but it was more of a filler before things get intense.
This is unbeta'd so all errors are my own... i can only re-read chapters so much before things start blending together.
Anyway, i hope to have another chapter soon.
STEVE POV
It wasn't more than 45 minutes into the movie before Roni was asleep. Even sleeping she looked like she was on guard, I don't think there was a time that she didn't look tense. Tonight had been a shit show from the start. I knew Nancy wasn't herself this morning when we talked in the library, but I still thought we should go to the party, if nothing more to let loose just a little.
Nancy had this idea that everyone was forgetting about Barb and that no one cared, but in all honesty, the guilt was almost all consuming. Barb had died at my house be it here or in the Upside Down, she was here. I had invited Nancy over and convinced them to stay. The guilt I felt each day, each time we sat down for dinner with Barb's parents was coming out my ears, but I had to be strong for Nancy, at least that's what I wanted to do, what I thought I needed to do.
Turning the TV off I turned and looked at Roni on the other side of the couch. With a sigh, I ran a hand through my hair and stood up. There was a chance my next move would get me thrown across the room, but if she was truly asleep as I suspected she was, I would be safe. I could see how exhausted she was yesterday but wasn't sure how to help until today. Placing my arm under her back and the other under her knees, I lifted her into my arms holding my breath as her head slowly lay against my shoulder.
As I slowly made my way up the stairs, I thought about the first time I saw Roni. I had no clue who she was. She was quiet, sat in the back of the class, in the corner of the lunchroom and hardly said a word. At the time, it was weird, and unfortunately, I judged her on it, no different from her judging me on my actions. After last year, everything changed. Nancy and I had gotten back together, but now that I think about it, I think we did it to bring back some sense of comfort.
What I feel for Nancy was genuine, I do believe I love her, but how I love her changed. We weren't the same people we fell for. I laid Roni on my bed and covered her up before heading back down to the couch. Flopping on my back, I stared at the ceiling. I almost kissed her tonight… I would have if she hadn't pulled away.
I wasn't supposed to feel anything for anyone else right now beside Nancy, but how I felt about Roni, it was different then Nancy. I thought it would go away as Nancy and I got closer, but as Nancy pulled away, Roni and I got closer. The way I felt when I saw her with Billy today, I thought it was just my dislike for the guy.
I must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake. Opening my eyes, I blinked several times before Roni's hazel scowl came into focus.
"You're an idiot." She stated and I groaned as I sat up stretching. "You should have just left me down here and slept in your bed."
"I was being a gentleman." I state scratching the back of my head.
"It wasn't necessary." She sighed. "If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late." Looking at my watch, I cursed as I saw the time. She remained seated as she watched me rush upstairs. Running a brush through my hair and changing I came back down finding her standing by the door.
"You can drop me off at the police station." She stated getting into the passenger side of my car.
"Why?"
"Don't you normally pick Nancy up?" She asked and everything that Nancy had said last night came back to me and I gripped the wheel tighter.
"Not today." I shook my head.
"You sure?" she scowled, "Maybe you two should talk."
"I don't really know what to say. She made it pretty clear last night." I answered and she nodded. Focused on the road in front of me I could see her chewing on her bottom lip anxiously. "You okay?"
"Peachy." She gave me a tight smile and I rolled my eyes at her. "Yeah, I'm fine just… a lot on my mind."
"You can talk to me you know?"
"As you keep telling me." She nodded with a small laugh. "I'm just not sure what 'it' is just yet."
Once we pulled into school, I pulled my car and cut the engine turning to her, "Thanks again, for last night."
"All I did was drive you home Steve." She shrugged moving to get out of the car.
"Right." I sighed following suit. I could see the eyes on us as we started walking toward the school, and just like that, Roni shrunk in on herself again.
"You, uh, may want to find Nancy before rumors fly around and she gets the wrong idea." She suggested before walking away. I watched her walk up the steps of the school running a hand through my hair. I couldn't focus for most of the morning. Gym was supposed to be a way for me to blow off steam, but I was off my game, and Billy used it to his advantage.
"Got to say Harrington I'm impressed." He said as he tried to dribble the ball past me using his arm to push against my chest.
"Whys that?"
"Wheeler and Andrews in one night, didn't think you had it in you."
"What are you talking about?" I scowled
"Come on man, you went to the party with Nancy and came to school with Veronica." He sneered and I could feel myself my frustration grow into anger.
"Shut up." He hissed pushing him back again.
"Piece of advice man?" he chuckled.
"What."
"Plant your feet." He stated and with a final shove he knocked into my chest, and I fell on to my back. Billy smirked over top of me before running down the court. I groaned and looked at the ceiling before pushing myself up. Movement by the door caught my eye and Nancy was standing looking annoyed. With a frustrated sigh and walked towards her before leading her out to the side of the building.
"What are you doing here?" I asked crossing my arms not ready to forgive her for the previous night.
"What am I… what the hell Steve." She stated surprised before glaring at me. "I missed first period because of you, only to find out you came to school with Roni?"
"I figured Jonathan would have taken you." I shrugged.
"Wha… What are you talking about?" she seemed surprised and genuinely confused before her anger came back, "And that doesn't answer my question about Roni, what is going on with you two. I tried to ask her and she beat around the truth and just told me to talk to you. What is going on?"
"You talked to her?" I questioned raising my eyebrow. "Don't suppose you apologized to her?"
"Why the hell would I do that?" she was getting frustrated now and my patients was wearing thin.
"Jesus… you really can't handle your alcohol." I groaned pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes. "Let's see, you remember going to Tina's party last night right?"
"Yes."
"Then what?" I questioned.
"I remember dancing, and… spilling some punch," she answered hesitating as she tried to remember details from the night before. "I remember Roni at the punch bowl and then you getting mad at me because I was drunk… and then you took me home."
"No, see that's where your mind gets a little bit fuzzy." I shook my head, my tone hard and cold, "That was your other boyfriend. That was… That was Jonathan."
"I don't understand." She scowled confused.
"It's pretty simple Nancy, you were just telling it like it is."
"What?"
"Um… Apparently, uh we killed Barb, and I don't care, cause I'm bullshit… and our whole… our whole relationship is bullshit, and… I mean pretty much everything is just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Oh yeah, also, you don't love me." I said.
"I was drunk Steve." She sighed, "What does that have to do with Roni, why would I apologize to her?"
"Your serious, you don't remember?" I asked annoyed. "You looked her in the eyes and told her it was her fault and it should have been her not Barb."
"I wouldn't… I… I don't remember any of that." She was taken back almost offended I was accusing her of something she did.
"So that makes everything that you said… it's what, just bullshit too?"
"Yes." She stated adamantly.
"So you don't think it should have been her?"
"No… I…"
"Then tell me." I stated crossing my arms again keeping my eyes pinned on her waiting for her reaction.
"Tell you what?" she scowled.
"You love me."
"Really?" she rolled her eyes but I kept my gaze firm and waited.
"Harrington, we need you man. That douchebag's killing us!" one of the players from my team came around the corner yelling at me and I pulled the towel from my shoulder. "Lets go!"
"All right!" I called back to him before turning back to Nancy who still hadn't said anything. "You know what, I think that you're bullshit." It was harsh and I didn't wait for her to respond, I just started back towards the gym leaving her outside.
VERONICA POV
After being cornered by Nancy this morning, I was on edge. She was annoyed and frustrated and clearly didn't remember anything from the previous night. I wasn't in the mood to deal with her or her frantic behavior after last night, especially with how things went with Steve. I was sure I could keep my own feeling down but last night I almost crossed a line, and when we were standing that close together, I wanted him to hold me, to kiss me… and that scared me.
Waking up in his bed was a whole other story, but finding him on the couch, I was overwhelmed. I had taken him home last night to take care of him, but he ended up taking care of me… and I wasn't sure I deserved it after everything that happened last year.
I assumed Nancy found and spoke to Steve because by lunch she was sitting on the hood of Jonathan's car looking defeated. Part of me felt bad, she had been through so much and to add a break up on top of that had to be a lot. However, the other part of me thought about the guilt she was putting on everyone around her so she wouldn't have to feel any of it. They both seemed to disappear for the rest of the day which didn't help Steve's attitude or the rumors.
So far, I had been cat called numerous times, Billy being a ringleader in that, and several girls had basically slut shamed me most of the day. I was used to being talked about, that's what the past five years had been people not knowing me, and the unknown scared people. I hadn't seen Steve since this morning, which wouldn't have bothered me, but with the way things were going with Nancy I was worried.
For once Jim didn't stop by, which was nice. I wasn't sure what was going on but at the moment I was thankful for the quiet. Sleep was hard to come by, every time I closed my eyes images of Barb filled my mind, and Steve's pool. Occasional the narrative changed and it was Nancy in place of Barb, but the one that kept me up the rest of the night and morning was when it was Steve. We were at the Byers house and there was the Demogorgon, only I was stuck in the Upside Down and could only watch. The images shook me and I woke up in a cold sweat shaking.
The walk to school was brisk but I embraced the cool air on my flushed skin. Jim was AWOL again which wasn't uncommon, but with the towns talking about monsters, and dying crops it gave me an uneasy feeling. The last conversation I had, had with the man was me telling him I didn't care and walking out, but the truth was I just didn't want him to care, if something happened to him, I'm not sure I would be okay.
The rumor mill was still going strong, but the mumbling and comments seemed to stop or weren't as obvious. However, it wasn't helped when people started realizing Nancy and Jonathan were both gone today, and they missed half the day before. I wanted to find Steve to see what Nancy had said to him, if he was alright, but I also wasn't sure what to say since he had been doing a pretty good job avoiding me. When the final bell rang, I wasted no time getting out the door, unfortunately I didn't make it far before a familiar blue Camaro revved it's engines as I passed it and Billy Hargrove stepped out.
"Andrews!" he called a smile plastered on his face.
"What do you want Hargrove?" I rolled my eyes stopping a few feet from him.
"Wanted to see how you were doing, you know with the whole party fiasco and everything." He shrugged but the amusement was obvious.
"Not sure what you are referring to."
"Oh come on Roni, we all saw you come to school with Steve." He stated, "I'll be honest I didn't think you had it in you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Going after Harrington while he was still with Wheeler, I mean i'm cold but that was just…" he didn't finish but smirked at me.
"Screw you Hargrove," I said passing him but he grabbed my arm and pulled me around so my back was against his car and he was leaning into me. "Get off."
"Oh come on, give me a chance." He whispered.
"Drugs and alcohol have gone to your head asshole, I am not interest, nor will I be." I shoved him back but he just chuckled which made me more angry. "What makes you think this is attractive… to anyone?"
"Relax I was just having a little fun." He said calmly, "Look, you ever need to kill time, or looking to have some fun I'm around. God knows Harrington is too stuck up his own ass to realize the prize in front of him." Before I could respond he pushed past me and opened the driver side door and got in. "See you around." He saluted two fingers out the window before screeching backwards and peeling from the parking lot.
Flustered and bit unsure I was still standing in the parking lot when Steve came rushing by with a purpose. He walked by me without even looking and I quickly moved to follow him.
"Hey," I called out, but he didn't stop, and I reached out grabbing his arm before he could get to his car. "Are you okay? I was looking for you today."
"Fine." He stated still avoiding eye contact.
"Yeah because that's believable." I rolled my eyes but he seemed more irritated. Releasing his arm, I scowled looking over my shoulder at where Billy had been and then back to him. "Did I do something?"
"Nope." He shook his head as he answered shortly.
"Seriously what's going on?" I stepped back confused, "Honestly, still knew to this whole friend thing. Is this about Billy? Look he came up to me…"
"I don't give a crap who you hang out with Roni, not everything is about you." He stated harshly and I let out a breath as he continued. "You can go hang out with Billy, I'm not gonna hold you back from a good time, I have other things I need to deal with…"
"Got it." I said pursing my lips and raising my hands in surrender. "Leave you alone. Sorry I even asked." I turned on my heel and walked away down the road to the arcade. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of turning around. He made his point, and I had made the wrong assumption about us being friends.
I replayed our conversation through work and by the time I closed up and went back to my apartment I was exhausted. Changing into a sweatshirt and sweats I was ready to relax, but before I could sit down there was a knock at the door. Jim hadn't been by for two days, but this was a little late for him to be by. Hesitantly I turned the handle and opened the door slowly.
A girl with curly hair and overalls stood in my doorway wearing an overlong flannel shirt. It took only a moment to recover from my shock before I grabbed her and pulled her through the door.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I questioned Eleven, peaking my head outside to see if anyone was around. "Are you out of your mind?"
"I want to find mamma." She said and I turned to her with a scowl.
"Mamma?" I asked.
"I saw her." she said and handed me a folder she was carrying. Inside there were images, a name and an address of a women.
"How did you find this?"
"Hopper keeps secrets." She said, her English still broken.
"Okay, well have you talked to him about this?" I asked, setting the documents on the small table and sitting down on the coffee table.
"No, he lies." She shook her head, her own frown deepening. "I want to go."
"Okay, hold on kid." I sighed rubbing my head. "I haven't seen you in a year and you are coming here now demanding a road trip."
"I am tired of hiding…"
"He was just trying to protect you…"
"No, he is just like Papa…"
"Whoa!" I stated standing up holding my hand out. "Hopper is nothing like Brenner and you know that. He may not be perfect, but Papa was a monster."
"I saw Mike." She stated changing the subject and I raised my eyebrow at her.
"Di…Did he see you?"
"No, there was a girl."
"Oh shit…" I breathed out closing my eyes. "I'm sorry kid. He misses you; you know, he talks about you all the time."
"I do not care anymore." She stated stepping towards me. "I am going to see Mama."
"Now hold on, you can't just go cross country by yourself." I shook my head.
"Come with me."
"I…" I hesitated, "El, you know I would, but this is a bad idea. I don't… we need to talk to Jim."
"You promised to help me…"
"No, I promised to protect you, and that is what I am doing, you can't go not tonight, I know…"
"No, you do not!" she said loudly and the lights in the apartment started to flicker. "You left the lab, left me there…"
"El that's not…"
"Stop lying… Everyone Lies!" she shouted, and the lights went from flickering to exploding and I covered my head as the room was filled with pops and shattering glass. Once the popping stopped, I stood up only to find El gone and the front door open.
"Shit!" I cursed, grabbing my jacket and shoes and running out the door. There was no sign of her down the street and I wasn't sure if she went right or left. Our connection was weak since leaving the Lab and I had no way of locating her without her initiation of the connection. Running my hand through my hair I ran towards the sheriff's office.
"Flo!" I called as I opened the front door. The receptionist was cleaning up and closing up for the night. The woman jumped as I approached and held her chest.
"Veronica, what is going on?"
"I need to talk to Jim is he here?" I asked out of breath.
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen him most of the day. I believe he went to the Byers yesterday but that was the last I have heard from him." She shook her head. "Is everything alright?"
"Uh…yeah." I said, trying to give a reassuring smile. "Yeah, sorry for scaring you. Jim was supposed to come by tonight and I guess I just got worried when he didn't."
"I am sure everything is just fine. When I see him, I will tell him you stopped by." She said and I thanked her before turning to leave the office. Standing outside of the office I tried to wrap my head around everything and what my next move should be. El was out there and planning to go find her mom, something was going on at the Byers, Jim was missing…Regardless I needed to find someone to help me find her.
Despite everything else Dustin running into the grocery store looking nervously over his shoulder caught my attention and I chose to follow him. He disappeared into the store, and I stood outside waiting. There wasn't many vehicles around at this time of night but one burgundy car caught my eye and I walked towards it. Steve was in the front seat his fingers drumming on the wheel anxiously. I knocked on the window and he jumped, turning towards me rolling down the window.
"Late night shopping?" I asked. I was still angry at him, still upset at his standoffish attitude and cold shoulder but it wasn't a coincidence that him and Dustin were here at the same time.
"Wh… Roni, what are you…"
"You first Harrington, what's going on?" I interrupted him, crossing my arms.
"I don't know what you are talking about." He shrugged looking back towards the store.
"Really? That's what you're going with?"
"Look…" he started just as Dustin came running up to the car a cart full of bags. Raising an eyebrow at him I walked towards the cart and put my hands on it stopping it from rolling any further and Dustin rammed into it. He looked up at me and his eyes widened, and I instantly knew something was seriously wrong. Looking down at the bags they were full of red meat.
"What the hell is going on?" I questioned looking from Dustin to Steve who was now standing with his door open leaning on the hood. Steve turned away from me and looked at the ground while Dustin hesitated and started stuttering. "Dustin… what the did you do?"
Thanks for sticking around.
Next chapter, Steve gives terrible advice and Roni and him talk about what he said.
Comment, suggestions, kudos, follows... all are appreciated.