Chapter Thirty-One
E.T
Veronica could feel the tension between her and her father growing so thick that it almost felt suffocating. Like it was pressing down hard on her chest, making it hard to breathe. Neither Joyce nor Jonathan spoke a word, nor moved, unsure of what was going to happen between the two. But it was Veronica who was the first to move as she sighed heavily, gripping the strap of her bag a little tighter, before moving toward the front door. The ice-cold air brought a pinkness to her cheeks and the tip of her nose, making her curly hair seem even darker than before against her pale skin. Hopper softened slightly as he caught another glimpse of Lauren when Veronica was standing directly in front of him. There were moments when Hopper was able to see himself in his daughter, especially in her mannerisms and facial expressions. But he couldn't deny that Lauren showed the most especially with her nose, eyes, and dark thick curls.
"How was school?" Hopper asked as she moved up the few short steps onto the porch.
"Fine," Veronica shrugged her shoulders as she stopped right in front of him. "What are you doing here? Everything ok?"
For a moment Veronica thought that something could be wrong since they were only a few weeks out since everything happened at the Lab.
"Everything is fine, we're all fine," Hopper spoke calmly, looking to Joyce for a bit of support, before turning to look back down to Veronica. "I-I was hoping to actually see you, speak with you...El keeps asking if you're ever gonna come out to the cabin."
Veronica tried to stop the heavy, and slightly agitated sigh, that pass through her lips. She looked over to Joyce for a moment with a pointed look before looking down to her feet. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"She misses you," Hopper spoke,
Her gaze hardened slightly and her body language stiffened. Jonathan closed the door of his car and quickly stepped out before moving to push his mother back into the home. He felt that the two of them didn't need to stand audience to what was happening out on their front porch. A part of Veronica was helpful, feeling a sense of pressure with so many eyes on her.
"That's not fair," Veronica spoke tensely.
"I didn't mean it as anything," Hopper quickly spoke, "Just a fact, I know why you're not really coming around and why you're not speaking to me, especially. I fucked up."
"I think that's an understatement," Veronica crossed her arms at her chest, "Why do you think a dinner is going to fix everything?"
"I don't," Hopper stepped closer and bent his head down to look into her eyes more, "But I wanna start and make the right step in repairing our relationship. I hurt you, and that is killing me because I really felt like we were building a good relationship as father and daughter. The last thing I want is to lose that."
The wave that came at Veronica was enough to make her head spin for a moment. She could not only see the sincerity all over Hopper's face, but she could feel it. But deep down she knew that she wasn't fully ready to forgive.
"I just..." Veronica sighed heavily and moved to lean back against the small railing of the porch. "...I-I don't know when I'm going to be ready for that. This isn't just a simple, you hurt me, dad. You lied to me and purposely kept my sister from me...after you knew everything that I was struggling with. El is my other half and I needed her and I'm sure she needed me. But instead of telling me, and letting me help keep her safe, you decided to keep her locked away."
"You're only seventeen, Veronica. I didn't want to give you the responsibility to hold on to. I am your father, and I am supposed to protect you. We got lucky that Eleven was never found out, god only knows what would've happened if she was." Hopper sighed deeply and rubbed over his bearded jaw, "I didn't fully trust Owens and the Lab. It was easy to keep an eye on you and make sure that you were safe."
"Was it?" Veronica's arched brows pulled together, "Cause I didn't feel very safe and watched over with the Mindflayer digging through my brain in order to try and not only take over Will but also this town."
Hopper opened his mouth a few times to speak, but no words came out.
"I felt alone the last few months and I still do! The only person that could've understood what I was going through wasn't here for me. Everyone was so focused on trying to force me into a normal life like I'm fucking normal. I'm not normal, dad. I'm a goddamn science experiment"
"Don't say that," Hopper pointed a finger at her,
Veronica scoffed "Do you not see? I was designed and manipulated to be a weapon. And instead, everyone ignored that and tried to fit me into some cookie-cutter teenage girl. I needed my sister, I needed her!"
Tears began to cloud Veronica's vision and cause her cheeks to feel like ice as they moved down along her skin. Hopper felt his chest tighten as she stood and fully saw the pain that she was in. He wasn't sure if he was ignoring it before, or if Veronica was good at hiding it. But either way, Hopper felt like a failure of a father.
"You're not some monster, Veronica. I know...I know about what happened while you were in that Lab. I haven't forgotten, and I surely don't see you in a different light about it. But I don't want you seeing yourself as that either. I wanted you to have a normal life, or try to. That's why I thought it was best for you to live here with Joyce. Where you felt the most comfortable." Hopper caressed her face and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. "I love you, very much, sweetheart. And I can't express to you how much I am deeply, deeply sorry for hurting you. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I wasn't. I'm still...kinda new to this Dad thing. Been a long time since I had to do this. But I wanna fix it. I wanna make it better."
"I wanted you to take care of me," Veronica's voice broke, cracking slightly before she turned to bury her face into Hopper's chest. "And to know you took care of her...instead of me..."
Hopper thought that he knew pain when he lost his Sarah. But hearing her crying against his chest ripped through him in a new way.
Steve moved through his empty home as he cleaned up from the pizza he'd ordered himself, before heading back up to his bedroom. It was another night when he was left alone by his parents as they headed off for some dinner to deal with his father's company. Or maybe a charity event? He wasn't sure. Steve lost count of the number of nights and weekends he was left alone to fend for himself in the large family home.
But just as he turned to head up the back steps to get to the second floor, a knock sounded from the front of the house. It was soft and for a second, Steve wasn't entirely sure that he'd heard it until there was alone. His brows pulled tightly together in confusion as he moved toward the front of the house. The last person he'd expected to see standing under the yellow harsh light of his front porch, was Veronica.
"Hey," He opened the door a little wider when he saw her. Veronica's cheeks were still flushed and her eyes were red as she stared up at him. Steve moved quickly stepped forward and guided her into the home.
"I-I'm sorry...I-I know it's late...b-but..." Veronica stuttered as Steve guided her out of the cold and into his house.
"It's ok," Steve spoke gently, moving to look down at her, "Is everything ok?"
Veronica sniffled and opened her mouth before shaking her head. Steve watched as she bit down on her lower lip when it started to quiver. He moved quickly and stepped forward and wrap his arms around her shaking frame, a sob breaking through from her chest as he collided with him. Her arms moved around Steve's slightly broad frame and clenched to him tightly as she cried. It wasn't long till the worn down Hawkins Basketball tshirt he was wearing was wet from her tears.
Steve was unsure how long the two of them stood there for. But he didn't care either. Hearing her in this sort of pain caused an ache to start up in his chest and spread through his body. Steve's arms tightened around her more when another sob sounded.
"I've got you, I've got you," Steve cooed softly in her ear, his hand moving along her back and rubbing it gently.
After a few more moments, Veronica pulled back and stared up at him,
"I-I'm sorry." She sighed and sniffled, "I didn't know where e-else to go."
"That's ok." Steve reached and wiped away the final tear that moved from her cheek. "You don't walk the entire way here did you?"
Veronica stared up at Steve and gnawed on her lower lip for a moment, before sighing, "Jonathan was off doing something and I didn't wanna bug Joyce."
"Could've called me." Steve spoke gently, "Don't want you walking around this late at night, not safe."
Veronica chuckled lightly and let out a laugh through her nose, "Think if something tried me, I could take care of myself."
Steve nodded his head and laughed a little before nodding his head.
"True. But...w-what's got you coming out here this late?"
Veronica sighed heavily, and Steve hated seeing the smile drop from her face. "My dad."
"Chief still givin' you a hard time?"
Steve placed a gentle hand a the small of Veronica's back and led her toward the small den at the side of the house. It was two small steps into the large room with brown shag carpeting and a white sectional. Veronica sat down on the end seat as Steve took a seat beside her.
"He was at the house when Jonathan and I got home. I think he was hoping that I'd finally talk to him or something," Veronica shrugged "But...all it did was make it worse."
"I'm sorry," Steve reached over and placed a gentle hand on her arm.
"He doesn't...understand...that I'm not...I'm not..." Veronica groaned and placed her face into her hands. "He says that he was protecting me, but I can't help but call bullshit..."
Steve just sat there and listened as she ranted, having a feeling that was what she needed. Someone to listen.
"...cause if he wanted to protect me he would've been my dad ya know? And even when I told him, straight up, it was like...like he shut down."
"Sometimes, parents just don't listen." Steve rolled his eyes,
"That's how it feels." Veronica rested back against the couch, "He ignores the fact of where I came from. Sort of feel like everyone forgets."
"What do you mean?" Steve asked
"How much do you know...a-about Hawkins Lab and everything?" Veronica asked
"Not much really. Jonathan and Nancy just told me that's where you came from. A lot of bad people were there and kept you there since you were little. I was too young to remember when you went missing but...I remember hearing stories growing up." Steve spoke.
"That's a good summary," Veronica rested her head on the back edge of the couch, her dark eyes staring up toward the ceiling. "Papa was a bad man, h-he made me...he forced me..." Veronica hesitated, Steve, moving closer, feeling the need to comfort her. "He made me do a lot of bad things."
"You don't have to tell me," Steve whispered gently, noticing the small tears that disappeared into her hairline.
"I want to," Veronica moved her head to the side, "I trust you, Steve."
He gently smiled at her, moving his hand down to clasp hers, giving it a small squeeze.
"My mom and...a-and stepdad knew about my powers. I learned that later when Papa, Dr. Brenner, would use it to break me down. He knew that I was still holding onto the fact that my mom would come and save me. So he'd use whatever he could to...break me down. But after a while, I placed two and two together, it was my stepdad who gave me to Dr. Brenner."
"Why would he do that," Steve asked
"I didn't understand that till I met Hopper." Veronica spoke softly "Anyways, Dr. Brenner would force me into experiments to make my powers grow, I didn't understand why. But I was a child. I just did was Papa told me to do, or else I would be punished."
"Punished?"
Veronica nodded her head solemnly, "Locked in the darkroom for hours, maybe even days. You couldn't hear anything and it was pitch black in the room." She licked her chapped lips, "I hate that room the most."
Steve's stomach twisted with a sort of feeling that made him nauseous.
"Then there were the beatings...the aids and techs seemed to enjoy those a little too much," Her voice was small, barely over a whisper. "But the worse of all were the times he'd force me to punish."
"Ronnie..." Steve whispered
"He made me kill kids," Veronica interrupted "Multiple. For experiments, for punishments, for fun...along with animals. I begged him to not make me do it, but then the torture would start. I tried to explain this to my dad, but he doesn't get it."
"What...what do you want him to get?" Steve asked
"That I want him to take care of me," Veronica looked deep into Steve's brown eyes. "That I just want my dad now. I'm sick of being pushed aside and left to just...figure this shit out on my own. Joyce is amazing, and Jonathan is like the brother I always wanted...along with Will. But...just..."
"You want your parent?" Steve finished, causing her to nod her head. "I get it. I mean, my parents are gone more than they are here. Being left alone...it fucking sucks."
"Your parents leave you?" Veronica questioned
"All the time. My dad travels a lot for his company, and my mom goes along to every conference and business trip cause she doesn't trust him...since he's cheated a few times"
Veronica looked at him confused, "Cheated?"
Steve nodded, "It's when...you, uh...kiss or do stuff with someone that isn't your boyfriend, girlfriend...wife, husband...that sort of thing." Steve explained, "That make sense?"
Veronica nodded her head, "I think I watched a movie with Jonathan when something like that happened in the movie."
"Yeah...well...because of that, both of them leave all the time."
Veronica looked around the den and frowned, noticing how it didn't feel like a home. Whenever she was at the Byers' home it always felt warm and comforting. But now as she looked around the sterile, stiff, and seemingly staged home of what would be assumed to be a happy family. But Veronica didn't feel love and warmth in this home.
"That's so sad," Veronica spoke looking back to Steve. "You're here all alone?"
"It's not so bad...u-used to have friends over all the time." Steve shrugged
"What about now?"
"You're here," Steve smirked slightly, "A-And I'm happy that you came to me tonight."
"You a-aren't scared of me more...now that you know the truth?" Veronica seemed to pull in on herself, kneeling up toward her chest as she sat.
"Veronica, nothing is going to change my mind about you. You were put into a horrible situation. But even coming out of that, you've protected people more than hurt them." Steve reached to caress her cheek softly. "You're stuck with me as your friend, you're not getting rid of me."
Veronica blushed lightly and leaned into his touch slightly, "Thank you, Steve."
The two of them sat together in silence for a moment, Steve rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand that he still held tightly.
"Do you wanna stay here tonight? We have a guest room that you can stay in, or we can crash together in the living room. I highly doubt my parents will be coming home tonight, so it'll be just the two of us."
"Like a sleepover? I saw that in a movie once..." Veronica questioned.
Steve laughed and nodded his head, "Yeah, like a sleepover."
"I-I'd really like that, Steve." Veronica smiled.
"Come on, we can pick out a movie, and pop some popcorn." Steve bumped her shoulder lightly before standing from the couch.
Steve pulled Veronica from the couch, causing her to laugh slightly, before leading her toward the kitchen. He grabbed two beers from the back of the fridge before grabbing a bag of popcorn from the pantry. He opened one of the glass bottles, before turning around to hand one to Veronica.
"I-I've never had one of these before," She spoke, looking at the bottle confused.
"Beer? Never?" Veronica shook her head at Steve's question, "Well, try it."
Her eyes looked between Steve and the bottle for a few passing moments before bringing the glass bottle to her lips. The moment the cold amber liquid touched her tongue, Veronica cringed back slightly and spit it out. She coughed a few times as the bitter taste lingered on her tongue. Steve couldn't help but laugh as he took the bottle away from her.
"Oh my god! That's horrible," Veronica cringed back and coughed a few more times.
"Ok, ok...we'll leave...uh, coke. I've got some Cola in the fridge."
"Now Cola I've had," Veronica spoke, as Steve turned back and headed to the fridge and grabbed a cold cola for Veronica.
The two placed some popcorn into the microwave and talked of school and other things that weren't the daunting topic of their family and parents. Veronica started to feel a lightness as she spent time with Steve, a lightness she always felt and was becoming addicted to. Each of them holding onto a bowl of popcorn and their drinks, Steve led Veronica up to his room.
Steve Harrington's room looked to be a mix of the child he once was and the adult he was trying to be. His room was large with the back wall made up of mostly windows that looked down and out into the backyard. The wallpaper that decorated his walls was of green, red, and blue plaid with a white background. His bed sat against the wall beside the windows, his bed was huge. Veronica had never seen a bed that big before. It was dressed with dark green bedding and white sheets. Pillows are stacked neatly against the thick wood headboard. Across from his bed was a large dresser with a television sitting in the back corner, a VHS player stacked below it. Shelves were up on the wall behind the dressed with trophies, awards, and other trinkets that showed off his career as a high school athlete.
"Wow," Veronica spoke as she looked around his room, Steve pausing as he placed his beer down on the bedside table to the left of his bed.
"What?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"Just never seen...a room this big before." Veronica chuckled, walking further into his room, noticing some of the posters that decorated his walls. Some of sports teams, some of musicians, and some of women in bikinis. "Rooms are smaller at the Byers home. And Jonathan's looks nothing like this."
Steve couldn't stop the blush that came over his cheeks when he noticed her gaze linger on the Sports Illustrated poster he had hanging on the back of his bathroom door.
"Oh, uh..." He quickly moved to open the door, blocking off the poster, "...sorry about that."
"Why?" She asked, moving to sit on the other side of the bed, kicking off her shoes so she could relax back.
"I-I don't know..." Steve sighed and moved toward his desk, looking through the shelf hanging on the wall that was lined up with movies. "What are you in the mood for?"
"You pick, don't really know much about good movies...still learning," Veronica spoke, before popping a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Just nothing too scary. Jonathan played Poltergeist a few nights ago, and I swear I didn't sleep for a week."
"Ok, not scary movies, got it." Steve chuckled before grabbing a tape, and walking over to the VHS, and turning on his TV. "You're gonna like this one I think."
"E.T?"
"Yeah, it's cute...wholesome." Steve smiled before popping the movie in. He pressed play on the VHS player before moving to take a seat on the bed with Veronica.
Steve sighed softly as the end of the movie started playing and the credits started to roll. The room was dark except for the light that came from the TV. Steve smiled and looked over, expecting to talk about the movie or even see if Veronica wanted to watch another. But instead, he was greeted with the sigh of her asleep, her face nuzzled into one of his pillows, with her chest rising and falling with each soft breath. Steve was gentle when he rose up from his bed, taking both of the bowls and placing them on his desk. He quickly turned off the TV before coming back to the bed and pulling the blanket over her sleeping form more.
She whimpered softly in her sleep before settling back into the warm sheets. Steve hesitated for a moment, thinking of whether he should stay or sleep down the hall. But there was something within him that didn't want to leave her. He knew what it was. It was like when he started dating Nancy, but different. Steve knew that he was developing more than some simple crush on Veronica. He moved around the room quietly and shimmied out of his clothes before slipping on his PJ bottoms and leaving his tshirt on.
Steve got into bed beside her and nestled into the blankets beside Veronica, relaxing against the sheets beside her. For a moment silence fell over the room and throughout the house, and Steve was starting to feel sleep creep into his mind. But just as he started to lull into his dreams, Steve felt a pressure against his chest. Opening his eyes for a moment, he saw that Veronica had moved. Her head rested on his chest, with her arm stretching across his chest. Steve couldn't help how his lips turned into a smile as he felt the weight of her body against his. Steve stretched his arm out and wrapped it around her, pulling her in tighter to his body. Steve felt himself relax more with ease and soon sleep took over his mind quicker than it had before.
AN: I was gonna have Steve and Veronica have a moment and finally kiss, but a part of me is like; is it still too soon? Please leave me with thoughts I love reading your reviews. It really motivates me!