Sorry this took so long, and for it being shorter then my other chapters. I struggled with the direction of this chapter since it was more of a filler...
I had this idea to have Roni confront Steve's parents at his graduation but felt like i was going to be just jumping around to much and there wasnt going to be much flow. That being said though... if that something you would like for me to write up i am happy to do a one-shot and insert stories of events that would occur during time jumps. Just let me know :)
Okay so i hope this chapter is okay... i needed it to bridge the gap before jumping into season 3.
All errors are mine... and i am sure there are a few...
A month had past, and everything was finally starting to get back to normal. The stitches came out and I was finally able to move without wincing. Hawkins Lab had been shut down after an article was leaked by an anonymous source about their involvement in Barb's death. Barb's parents were finally able to get closure and had a funeral for their daughter. I was there standing beside Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy listening to her mother cry and watching as they lowered the casket into the ground.
I still struggled with guilt when it came to Barb and Bob's death. Staying with the Byers while I healed helped. Joyce made a point to pull me from my downward spirals when they occurred and eventually, we both were able to come to terms with everything and work towards moving on. I was finally allowed back to my apartment after several arguments with Jim. It felt good to be back in my space, but after weeks of living on the couch in the Byers small house, it almost felt too open in my place.
Billy had kept his distance after what happened. I had seen him around school, but he seemed to have calmed down, if only a bit, around everyone. He wasn't as cocky as he had been before. Steve seemed to always be around now, and he checked in with Dustin more. Everything that had happened had brought the two closer giving them a brotherly relationship.
Despite everything that happened, it didn't change that it was Friday night, and I was home alone, sitting on my used couch working on homework. When there was a knock at my door I eye'd it suspiciously waiting, the knock came again, and I sighed putting my books down and moving to open the door. The moment the door was opened El rushed in and wrapped her arms around me.
"Hey kid." I smiled hugging her back. Jim was walking up the alley towards the door, a bag in his hand. "Whats going on?" I asked, confused, as Jim walked in and shut the door behind him.
"I am going to dance." El said enthusiastically, pulling away and looking up at me. I looked at Jim and he just shrugged, pulling off his jacket and sitting down on the now vacant couch.
"The Snow Ball?" I raised an eyebrow and El nodded.
"I need help." She said her big eye pleading with me.
"Couldn't handle getting her ready on your own Jim?" I laughed.
"Don't even start with me." He grumbled.
"Okay what do you need from me?" I asked, turning to the young girl.
"I have a dress." She held the bag that Jim had brought up.
"Okay, go get it on. We'll do your hair after." I said, pointing to my room against the back wall. She ran towards it, and I just laughed moving to the other side of the couch sinking into it.
"I met with Sam Owens today." He stated beside me, and I looked at him waiting for him to continue.
"And what'd he have to say?" I prompted. Jim pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. Still unsure, I took it and pulled the document out. It was a birth certificate. JANE HOPPER listed at the top. "Holy shit, he did it."
"Worked his magic." Jim nodded, watching me as I placed the document back in the envelope carefully.
"So, she's yours. She's gotta happy about that." I said, watching the door at the back of my apartment waiting for El to come out.
"Can't tell if its because of that, or I'm letting her go to this dance." He grumbled. "There's something else in the envelope." I scowled and took it back from the coffee table and took out all the documents flipping through them. My fingers paused on the one he knew I would find, and I looked up confused.
"I… I don't understand, why…"
"I asked him to look into getting your documents changed." He explained and stared down at the document. It was a standard Custody agreement, and my name was listed at the top with Jim's beside it signed by Sam Owens as a witness and a judge. "He couldn't change your birth certificate, there was too much paperwork connecting you to Martin Brenner that he couldn't just erase, but he was able to get custody agreements in place and approved. Looks like you're stuck with me too."
"I didn't even know you were going to do this." I whispered still looking at the document. I wasn't used to the emotions that were swelling inside of me, but I had to swallow the lump in my throat as I looked up at him.
"I didn't want to get your hopes up in case nothing could be done." He stated and I put the paper down again still staring at them. "Looks like you're stuck with me." With a half sob, half laugh I turned and wrapped my arms around him.
"Thank you." I whispered into his shirt.
"You're welcome kid," he said softly, his arms around my back. After a few seconds I pulled away and wiped my cheek where a rogue tear had escaped down and took a deep breath. The door in the back opened and I turned to see El, in a blue dress come out, looking completely out of her element.
"Wow." I smiled standing up. "You look amazing."
"Dress could be longer." Jim grumbled. I glared and shushed him.
"Okay, come with me," I smiled leading her to the bathroom. Standing in front of me, she looked at herself in the mirror as I pulled a brush from one of the drawers and a few bobby pins. Grabbing the squirt bottle of water, I kept on the counter I sprayed her hair and slowly brushed it away from her face. She watched through the mirror as I pulled her girls back and used a few pins to keep it away from her eyes. After that, I worked to pull her girls out and then sprayed hairspray over her head. "Just a few more things." I said, leading her to the edge of the bathtub having her sit while I kneeled in front of her. I grabbed my bag of make-up and pulled a few items out. "Close your eyes."
She did as I asked, and I carefully started with her eyes choosing a color that blended well with her skin. Moving to her cheeks and lips smiled as I finished. "You can open now." When she did, I was smiling back pushing myself up from my knees. Her hand wrapped around my wrist before I could step away and she stood looking up at me.
"I am sorry." She said and I scowled confused and concerned.
"What are you sorry about?" I asked.
"I ran away and I said you lied." She explained and I sighed remembering the outburst that blew out the lights in my apartment.
"You were upset, and hurt… you don't need to apologize for feeling." I said.
"But I was wrong. You don't lie you were protecting me like Hopper." She said with a scowl.
"You wanted to find your mom, I can understand that," I leaned back on the counter and crossed my arms. "Did you find her?"
"Yes."
"But…"
"She was lost." El's voice was quiet, and she looked at her fingers. "I left and found sister."
"Sister?" I asked standing up a bit. El held up her arm revealing the number 011.
"Eight."
"That's right…" I nodded. "You two were pretty close. Why didn't you stay with her?"
"She was angry, wanted revenge on everyone who hurt her…hurt us." El explained, "I wanted to help, but revenge… I did not want to hurt people because I was mad. She did not understand."
"I'm sorry." I said, reaching for her hands. She looked up at me before pulling her hands back and wrapping them around my waist.
"She was not family." She said, her voice muffled in my shirt. "My family is here, my friends…"She paused and looked up at me before finishing, "my sister."
"Shit kid." I said kneeling down so I could hug her properly. "I am glad you came back El."
"Me to." She said softly.
"How long does it take to get ready!" Jim called from the living room and El and I broke apart goofy smiles on our faces. Picking up my mess I followed El out of the bathroom. I watched in amusement as Jims eyes grew wider as he saw El.
"How do I look?" she asked him. His lack of response made El worry and she turned to me with a scowl on her face.
"You look beautiful." I said reassuring her. "Jim just has a hard time saying that."
"Alright." He cleared his throat and got up to grab his jacket. "Should we go."
"Will you come too?" She turned to me, her eyes begging.
"I'm not sure…"
"Yeah, she's coming." Jim answered for me. Raising an eyebrow at him he shrugged and opened the door.
"This isn't going to be a thing now is it, as my guardian you aren't going to just boss me around?" I grabbed a jacket and locked the door.
"You have no idea." Jim said and I groaned. El sat anxiously in the front seat watching the streetlights pass. Once we arrived at the school, the gym was lit with white lights and music could be heard as we got out of the truck.
"Now what?" El asked looking at Jim and I.
"Now, you go in and you find Mike." I smiled, "The rest will just come naturally."
"The hell it will…" Jim interjected but I just ignored him as I followed El to the front of the gym.
"Ignore him." I said, "Go." She seemed unsure looking over her shoulder as she walked up the steps but eventually, she made it through the doors and out of initial view. Jim was quick to try to follow her, but I grabbed his arm pulling him back. "Oh, no, you are not following after her." I shook my head.
"But…"
"Nope, not a chance, you can go wait with the other anxious parents." I stated pointing behind him. He scowled and followed my finger until he saw who I was pointing at. Joyce was leaning on her car in the parking lot anxiously looking at the building behind her. "Let El enjoy herself, and you can go talk to Joyce." He nodded a bit unsure before he slowly walked towards the woman in the parking lot. With a deep breath, I smiled turning to walk away from the middle school a few yards until I found the old playground and sat on one of merry-go-round, one foot hanging down to slowly spin it.
"For someone who doesn't like dances or parties you sure end up at them a lot." A voice behind me said and I sat up and looked over my shoulder. Steve was walking up hands in his pocket smirking at me.
"Against my will I swear." I rolled my eyes. He eyed me suspiciously as he same and sat across from me on the playground equipment his back leaning against the metal bars opposite me. "El asked and Hopper insisted."
"He actually let her go?" Steve's widened in surprise before he chuckled. "Wow, he does have a heart."
"Right!" I laughed looking back at the school before turning back to him. "Why are you here?"
"Dustin." He shrugged.
"Got it, and you gave him all your bad advice again?"
"It's not bad advice." He scoffed and I raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed. "Okay fine, but it's not 'that' bad." We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I watched as Steve got lost in thought, his brows knitting together slightly as his thoughts ran away from him. Lifting my leg that hung of the merry-go-round I nudged his legs pulling him from his daze to look at me.
"What's with the face?" I asked.
"Nothing…"
"Please, I am the queen of trying to put up front." I rolled my eyes. With a sigh he ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the hand resting on his knee.
"I didn't get into Tech." he said quietly.
"Shit, I'm so sorry." I said sitting up a bit and leaning forward to place my hand on his. "Seriously."
"You want to know what though?" he said with a small laugh looking up at me with a small smile. "I'm not even that upset about it."
"Wait… what?" I scowled pulling my hand back confused.
"I mean I wanted to go… a few months ago, when I was trying to be this smart, school kid for Nancy…" he cleared his throat as he said her name before continuing, "and I turned in my essay, but when I got the rejection letter, I wasn't upset. Truth is, I don't know what I would do if I went, I don't know what I want to do, it just kind of seems pointless to go if I am not sure what my future is supposed to be."
"So, what are you going to do?" I asked quietly.
"I have no idea." He shrugged and laughed. "Start by telling my dad I guess."
"And how's he going to take that?" I questioned knowing Steve's dad wasn't going to be happy when Steve told him.
"He has been talking about me going to Tech since I was a kid." Steve sighed. "I think I wanted to go to make him proud, this is just going fuel his fire about not taking my future seriously."
"I don't think that's true. The fact that you are thinking about it, and realize you weren't ready says a lot, and it means you are thinking about your future, you just haven't figured out what that is yet… and considering everything you're allowed to find something you like and want to do." I replied and he met my eyes as I smiled back at him.
"If I'm not 'King Steve' I guess I just need to figure out who I am." He said as he let out a breath.
"Well, I mean you're a pretty good babysitter," I said, and he chuckled and rolled his eyes, "and you're good with a bat, especially if it has nails in it…and…" I paused and turned so both of my legs were dangling off the metal toy, palms flat on the surface. Looking over my shoulder at him, I gave him a gentle smile before I continued. "You have a good heart, you protect the people you care about, and I think you're going to figure out what you want before you realize it. It's your dad's loss if he chooses not to see that."
"Thanks." He nodded before moving to stand and held his hand out to help me up. "You need a ride home?"
"Uh…" I looked over my shoulder at the middle school, "I… Yeah." I nodded with a smile, taking his hand. "A ride would be nice."
Standing he held my hand as I stood. Once I was up, he didn't let go of my hand. We were close, I stared at our hands still held together, before looking up and meeting his eyes. They were soft and warm, but they didn't stay connected with mine long before they glanced quickly down, and I found my own looking at his lips. I breathed out slowly as I looked back up at him. My heart skipped a beat as I felt his free hand brush hair behind my ear before cupping my cheek. He leaned down slowly until there was barely any space between us. There was a moment of hesitation and then he pulled me towards him, and our lips connected.
My thoughts faded as my attention was on Steve. The kiss was soft, gentle. When he broke the kiss, it was only for a pause before he collided with my lips again. I let myself get lost in his fell, his taste. I mirrored his movements. I knew my feelings for Steve had grown since we had started hanging out over a year ago, but I hid the feelings, but I never felt like I would be good enough. I couldn't compete with Nancy…. The thought snapped me from the lust filled stupor and I broke this kiss and pulled away slightly.
"Steve…" I put my hands on his chest. "I… I can't."
"I'm sorry." He said quickly, clearing his throat. "I just thought… Shit Roni…"
"No, it's not…" I shook my head and pulled away completed turning around my cheeks burning with sudden embarrassment. "Dammit… I wanted to…it's just, the timing, and you and me and…"
"Whoa," Steve turned me to face him, "Slow down."
"I'm sorry, it's not that I don't want to Steve… it's just," I took a deep breath and felt tears burn the back of my eyes as I realize I may have just lost my only real friend.
"Look, I'm not mad." He said trying to give me a soft smile. "I just want to know what's going on in that head of yours."
"I…it's been hard, trying to not be negative about myself…. It's hard to wipe out everything Dr. Brenner filled my head with. You didn't know me a year and a half ago, and in that time, you were trying all you could to get Nancy or get her back… I know that's not fair to say but it's true and I just… I don't want to be another regret…"
"Roni… I don't…"
"Just let me…" I sighed. "I don't know that you would, but you just broke up with her…and we just went through a whole end of the world scenario again, and when the dust settles… I can't be a choice of opportunity or second… my whole life I was second choice, I was the only one, last one, or not… I want someone to want me, for me, not the world ending, not my power, not to fill a void."
I watched him scowl and I felt the pit grow in my stomach at the realization of what I had said.
"Shit…" I cursed with a groan. "I don't think that's what you are doing… or trying to do. I don't want you to realize later on that you didn't want this, or feel like it's only because we nearly died together… I mean you just showed up in my life and I don't want to lose you and I probably just did because I can't articulate anything, and I don't really know what…"
"Hey, stop, stop…" Steve interrupted me and was in front of me again his arms on my shoulders. "Breath Roni." I looked down and tried to take a deep breath, but it was shaky. "No, look at me." His finger was under my chin lifting it forcing me to look up. "It's okay. I know I haven't been the most strait-laced guy when it comes to relationships, and I don't want you to feel like that kiss, how I feel is just because our lives have been emotional shit shows… I'm happy just being us and proving to you that I like you, during the end of the world, and every time in between."
"Really?" I scowled looking up at him.
"Let's go," he laughed and rolled his eyes putting his arm over my shoulders and we walked down the hill to his car. I was still skeptical, but he was true to his word. Our kiss, my panic and word vomit didn't change anything. Steve still came around. He would pick me up when Jim couldn't and gave me rides to work. I really wanted to just let all the fear go and just accept that he liked me, even after he told his dad about school and got temporarily kicked out and slept on my couch. Even when I called out his parents at his graduation and he ended up at my apartment on graduation night and we drank and laughed all night. It felt to good to be true and I didn't want to jinx anything by opening up to him completely… I didn't want him to be disappointed.
I know it wasn't like previous chapters but like i said this was a filler before season 3. I have chapters set up for the next season and i am super excited.
As a heads up the first two chapter may be shorter becuase i am still working how i want to fit Roni into the Scoops Troop scenario, but once things start rolling i am so excited for what's to come and Steve and Roni's story line.
I hope you stick around with me.
As always, i am open to suggestion. Any ideas, likes, follows, favorites, etc... all appreciated.
See you soon