Violet had gone to school the next morning, despite still feeling groggy. She had woken up and left Steve sleeping in bed. She'd looked at him for a few moments, wondering if the night before had been real. It had all been a lot, almost too much. She wasn't sure how to handle it, but it was out there now. She'd told Steve the truth. She'd told him how she felt and a part of her was relieved that he hadn't yelled at her and told her that it was too late. But then she thought about Nancy and she wondered what she should do. She didn't know if their friendship would survive this, not really. Violet had basically spent the night with Steve, admitting how she cared about him and wanted him.

But she had to talk to Nancy. She knew that it was important. She just wanted to get it out of the way with. She'd woken Daisy up from the sofa and had told her that she could come to hers and change for school, but she'd shaken her head and said she was going to play sick and just go home. She'd called Jacob who had picked her up as the two of them snuck around in Steve's living room, trying to keep it quiet so they didn't wake him.

Violet had seen a smirk on Daisy's face when she'd woken up. Violet had rolled her eyes and just told her that she'd talk to her later. She wasn't sure if she could talk about it at that moment in time. She still needed to talk to Steve some more about stuff. She'd gone home as Daisy climbed into Jacob's car. Violet had snuck in, using the key from underneath the flowerpot and creeping to her room. She'd showered and changed into a fresh sweatshirt and skirt, figuring that she should wash Steve's clothes before returning them to him.

She'd had breakfast with her dad, despite not being too hungry. He figured she'd stayed at Daisy's and had just come home early to get ready for school. Violet didn't dissuade him from that line of thinkings. Instead, she'd just told him that the party was lame and she'd see him that night for practice. She'd pecked him on the cheek and had grabbed her car keys and backpack. Moving onto the porch, she didn't get a chance to unlock her car because Steve was sitting on the hood of it.

"You thinking of driving this thing to school?" he asked from her.

He'd changed into a black sweatshirt with jacket and jeans. His hair was back to being bouncy again and he had his arms folded over his chest. Violet moved down the steps of her porch towards him. "I'm fine, Steve."

"Carol drugged you," Steve reminded her. "You almost drowned last night and were sick. If you're going to insist on going to school then you're not driving there."

"Honestly, I feel okay."

"You might feel okay, but you're still not driving," he said and held his palm out expectantly. Violet's brows rose on her forehead as she stood in front of him. He wriggled his fingers and nodded to his palm. "Keys, Vi. Now."

Violet huffed, but she pushed her keys down into his hand. He closed them into his fist and stuffed them into his jean front pocket. "You can have them back tonight after I've drove you home," he said to her and Violet guessed that was as good as she was going to get from him. She followed him to his car and he held the passenger door open for her. She tossed her rucksack onto the floor of the footwell and he shut the door. He got into the car and turned the key in the ignition before reversing out of his driveway. There was an awkward silence between the two of them that neither of them had really anticipated after the previous night when they'd both been honest with each other. But this was new territory for the pair of them and they didn't know how to act. In the cold, hard light of day, things seemed different.

"You were gone when I woke up this morning," Steve finally commented.

Violet glanced to him and then back out the window. "I didn't want to wake you."

"I wish you had," Steve replied.

"You looked like you needed sleep," Violet tried to defend. "And I…I don't know what we're doing…last night…I was drugged and I said things and I just don't know if they were right."

Before she could continue with her excuses, Steve suddenly swerved off the road, dust flying up underneath his tyres. Violet almost screamed as he slammed the brakes on and she jolted in her seat. Her hair fell into her face and she clung onto the seat. She turned her glare onto Steve, face scrunching up with anger. "What the hell, Steve?" she snapped at him. "You could've killed us."

"I know how to drive, Violet," Steve snapped back at her. "And you're not doing this, do you hear me?" he pointed at her as the car continued running and they remained parked in the dirt by the side of the road. "You are not making excuses for what you said last night…blaming it on the drugs…trying to get out of it. You're not doing that to me, Violet, because I'm not letting you. You told me last night that you're tired of this. You told me that you were tired of hiding things."

And that had been true. She was tired of hiding how she felt for Steve. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. She kept watching him and Steve waited for her to say something. He waited for her to tell him that he was right with what he was saying. He needed to hear her say it, but she just sat there in silence and he wondered if she even knew how to talk at one point.

"Is this real?" she finally asked from him.

His brows furrowed and creases formed on his forehead. "Is what real?"

"This," she said. "I need you to tell me that this is real and that I'm not just another notch on your bedpost. I need to know, Steve, because for me…you could really hurt me if you wanted to. Do you know that? Why do you think I hid for so long? Because I was scared of someone else turning around and not loving me. If we do this…I just need it to be real because Nancy is probably going to hate me and you. People are going to talk about us. People are going to judge you for dating some loser like me…and I just need to know I'm worth this for you."

Steve listened to her and he turned the key, the engine stopping and silence engulfing the two of them.

"Is that all you think you are to me? Another notch on my bedpost?" he asked from her and she could see that he sounded hurt.

"No," she said honestly to him. "I just need to hear you say it, Steve. I just want to hear it…please…because I'm so scared of what's going to happen…losing Nancy…but we need to tell the truth and I want to. I want to tell the truth, but I just want you to be certain that I'm worth it."

"Come here," Steve urged from her and he shifted along the bench. He took hold of her by the forearm, dragging her towards him and letting his hand slip down her arm to take hold of her hand. "I meant every word of what I said last night, Violet," Steve said to her. "You're not just another conquest. You're more than that. You're my pain-in-the-ass neighbour who I can't stop thinking about. You're the one thing that I can't get out of my mind. You…I've never been so sure about anything in my life and I know that probably doesn't mean much coming from me considering I've never really been sure about anything in my life, but I want it to mean everything to you because it means everything to me."

Violet just watched him and tried to weigh up his words. She believed him. Of course, she believed him. She nodded just the once, but that was enough for the confirmation that he needed. He reached a hand up to her cheek and stroked it softly.

"I'll talk to Nancy," Steve said and stopped her from talking before she could argue, holding a hand up. "She's my girlfriend, Vi, and I owe it to her to be honest."

"She's my friend, Steve, and I lied to her."

"Just…just let me talk to her first, okay?" Steve urged from her. "And then we'll see where the ground lays."

"I feel sick," Violet admitted to him.

"But no regrets?" he checked from her and Violet looked at him, seeing the way he looked at her with complete adoration and she shook her head. She knew that she might hurt Nancy and lose a friend, but she couldn't stop how she felt about Steve. She'd tried, but she couldn't.

"No regrets," she said to him.

….

Steve hadn't anticipated Nancy being angry with him, but he guessed it made sense. He'd been playing basketball in the gym during third period and it was then when Billy had made his comments. He'd been on the opposite team to Billy and he was sweating profusely, his grey tee damp around his neck and arms. He wanted to beat Billy, but he was finding it difficult. The blonde-haired teenager was jumping around completely shirtless with a necklace dangling around his neck. Steve tried to dribble past him, but he blocked him and began talking.

"Harrington, right?" he checked with him. "I heard you used to run this school. That true? King Steve, they used to call you, huh? Then you turned bitch."

Steve kept dribbling the ball, panting for breath. "Maybe you should just shut up and play the game?" he suggested to Billy who quickly moved and took the ball from Steve, knocking him to the floor. He raced towards the net and quickly scored, turning around and looking to Steve, his tongue poking out from between his teeth. He winked at him and ambled towards him as everyone took a breather and grabbed their water.

"Hey, that girl you were with last night?" Billy pushed him. "The tennis chick?"

"What about her?" Steve asked, instantly becoming defensive. Billy held his hands up in surrender.

"Just asking, man," Billy said. "Wasn't sure if she was yours or not? Gotta say, the legs on her," he whistled lowly and Steve felt his fingers ball into fists by his side. "I don't want to step on your toes, but if she chooses to walk away…well…that's a different story."

"Violet wouldn't," Steve simply said.

Billy chuckled and nudged him in the shoulder. "We'll see about that, pretty boy."

Steve turned his head over his shoulder to continue glaring after Billy. But then he saw Nancy. She was stood by the exit, arms flapping by her side. Steve was amazed she was at school. It seemed that no matter what life threw at the women he knew, they just kept going. She was wearing a high neck grey sweater and jeans, bag on her shoulder. He followed her outside, grabbing his towel and flinging it round his neck, prepared for what was to come his way.

"Where were you this morning? I missed first period," Nancy snapped at him as they stood in the alley between the gym and the school building. Steve had spotted Violet on the tennis court on their way there, but she had been too busy in a rally with one of the gym teachers.

"I didn't think you'd be at school," Steve said to her.

"What're you talking about?" she asked from him.

"You were drunk, Nancy. You were completely out of it," he said. "What do you remember about last night?"

"I…we went to Tina's party…we were dancing…you got mad at me and I spilled the punch then you took me home," Nancy said, but Steve shook his head. She really didn't remember what had happened at the party. Steve took a breath and clung onto either end of the towel around his neck.

"No, see, that's where your mind gets a little bit fuzzy," Steve told her. "That was Jonathan who took you home. It was pretty simple, Nancy, you were just telling it like it is."

"What?" Nancy asked and Steve knew that she wasn't putting this on. She had no idea what had happened the night before.

"Nancy, you got so drunk and you started spouting all of this stuff about me being bullshit and us not being love. You started saying how I was clearly obsessed over Violet and she's bullshit too," Steve reminded her and he had no idea how he was going to talk to her about any of this now. He didn't want to be angry. He didn't want to do this in between class, but he guessed he didn't have much choice.

"I was drunk, Steve, I didn't mean what I said," Nancy said to him.

"But was it?" Steve asked from her and she cocked her head to the side. "Nancy, was it all bullshit or were you just saying what you've been thinking for a while…what we've both been thinking for a while."

Nancy frowned, brows knitting together. "I don't understand," she said to him. "What…Steve…what are you saying?"

And Steve knew that he had to do this. He had no other option because he owed it to Nancy. He owed it to her to be honest and he was prepared for whatever reaction he was going to get from her because the truth had to come out. It had been hidden for far too long and if he kept going then more people were going to get hurt and he didn't want that to happen.

"I'm saying that maybe you have a point," Steve admitted to her. "Maybe this…us…maybe it's not what we both want?"

Nancy shook her head at him. "Where is this coming from?" she demanded from him. "I don't understand. We just had a fight last night. That was it. Couples fight."

"And is that what you want?" Steve asked from her. "Can you stand there and tell me that you love me, Nancy? Tell me that you truthfully love me?"

Nancy's mouth opened and then closed. Steve had his answer. "I just…I mean…you're serious?"

"I'm serious because I do care about you, Nancy. I care very much about you and spending time with you has been amazing. You're so nice…intelligent…fearless…and I never wanted to hurt you. I never meant to hurt you because you deserve everything and I should've been honest from the start. I should've told you and not lied."

Nancy kept her eyes on him, wondering just what was going on in his mind and what he was trying to tell her. She guessed that she didn't need to think too long or hard because it was pretty obvious. She'd known it deep down for such a long time, but she'd never really wanted to admit it. She guessed a part of her wanted to live in ignorance and pretend things were fine when they were anything but fine. And now she couldn't keep lying. She had to be truthful, no matter how much it hurt.

"Violet," she just spoke her name and she saw from how Steve looked away that she was the cause. It always came back to Violet. Nancy nodded thoughtfully at that. "It's always been Violet."

"I'm sorry," Steve said to her.

Nancy scoffed. "Why did you not just tell me that you weren't over her?"

"I thought it might pass," Steve confessed to her. "When she told me that she didn't want to pursue anything, I figured that was it and I really do care about you. I thought that the two of us would make it, but last night…I don't know…we both realised that this wasn't going away…how we feel wasn't going away…and she…she told me the same."

"She told you the same thing?" Nancy asked, voice forceful and becoming angry.

"Yeah," Steve said.

Nancy chuckled. "So the two of you…what? You spend months pretending there's nothing there, stringing people along with how you feel and then you just decide to give it a go? She suddenly decides she wants you and she clicks her fingers and you go running?"

"It's not like that, Nance," Steve protested to her. "There's a lot that's been going on for her and you know that. She's…she struggles with things like this and we both know that. I know it's not been fair on you, but I can't keep doing this to you."

"So noble," Nancy said with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Steve continued protesting.

"Yeah, so am I," Nancy replied and she stormed off without another word to Steve. He just watched her walk away and knew that he'd made a mess of things.

…

"And the worst part was that I knew," Nancy said. She was sat on the hood of Jonathan's car during lunch, a can of coke in front of her. Jonathan had his sandwich open and was chewing on it slowly, listening to Nancy as she told him everything that had happened. "Violet told me that she had feelings for Steve, but she said that she didn't want to pursue it, but I saw it…I saw how the two of them were together and deep down I've always known that he wanted her. I found her magazine shoot in his bedroom, for Christ's sake."

"The one in LA?" Jonathan asked.

"Don't tell me you have it too," Nancy rolled her eyes.

"She's our friend, Nance," Jonathan said. "And, objectively, she did look hot, but she's just a friend. She's always just been a friend and I know that Steve has a reputation, but he…he asked me to take you home last night and he did sound genuinely upset. I don't think they wanted anyone to get hurt."

"You're defending them?" Nancy checked with him.

Jonathan shook his head quickly. "I'm not defending them," he said. "I think that both of them should've owned up to how they feel ages ago and Steve, if he knew that he cared for Violet, shouldn't have strung you along," Jonathan agreed with her. "But I just…I mean…did you love him?"

Nancy frowned and Jonathan knew that was the wrong question. "Are you serious?" she demanded from him.

"I don't want to twist the knife," he promised her. "It's just that you seem a lot angrier with the fact that the two of them have kept this from you than heartbroken that Steve loves someone else."

And Nancy guessed that was the problem. Did she love Steve? Did she truly love Steve? Could she see herself spending the rest of her life with him? Could she honestly say that she was heartbroken from his declaration? She didn't think she could, but she was annoyed with the two of them, just as much as she was annoyed with herself for staying with Steve.

"You think he really loves her?" was all that Nancy could ask.

Looking her in the eye, Jonathan didn't want to hurt her, but he knew that he had to be honest. He wanted to tell her the truth and he wanted her to be alright. "Yes," he said. "I think he loves her and I think she loves him. I just don't think she knows how to love someone and I think she was so scared of ruining not only her friendship with Steve, but her friendship with you too."

Nancy had to admit that she hadn't thought about it like that. She wondered if she'd been too harsh on Steve earlier, but she still wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it with him just yet. She just needed time to compose herself.

"Nancy."

Looking away from Jonathan, it was almost like she'd materialised in front of them. Violet was stood there dressed in her tennis whites with her tennis bag on her shoulder. She was shifting nervously from one foot to another, arms folded over herself and gaze flickering between the two of them.

"Hey, Vi," Jonathan greeted her and Violet just waved at him and forced a smile to her face.

"Steve told me," Nancy said to Violet, voice colder than she'd anticipated it being.

"I'm sorry," Violet said to her. "I don't know what else I can say except I'm sorry. I know Steve's your boyfriend and I never wanted to get in the middle of that because I care about you both so much, but I…I should've been honest months ago with you…I just…I didn't want to lose either of you as friends."

Nancy didn't say anything to her. She just watched her and tried to figure out what the best thing to say would be, but truthfully, she wasn't sure.

"Why didn't you just tell me the complete truth?" Nancy asked her. "Why did you lie and tell me that there was nothing there? That it had just been a moment? Why were you just not honest with me?"

Violet felt her mouth dry out. "Honestly? I was scared," she said to her. "I was scared of admitting it to myself, let alone anyone else."

"So you lied?" Nancy continued pushing her. "I don't know, Vi, I just…the two of you…I wish you'd have said something ages ago and spared all of us this mess."

"I do too," Violet confessed. "But, I'm sorry-"

"-Just saying sorry isn't going to change things," Nancy interrupted her. "Look, just give it time, okay? But right now…I just don't think friends take other friend's boyfriends as soon as they've had a fight."

Violet knew that was true. She knew Nancy had a point. And so Violet just left the two of them on the car. She headed away and it was only as she kept walking did she feel a tear on her lip when she realised she was crying.

…

Violet was supposed to go home with Steve after school considering he wouldn't let her drive. Steve had stood by his car as the parking lot emptied out, but she didn't come. He sighed and knew where she'd be. Sure enough, he found her on the tennis court. She was sat on the bleachers, still dressed in her tennis whites; a sleeveless tea and a skort with ankle socks and white trainers. Steve headed towards her, but she was in her own world. Sitting down next to her, he shrugged out of his black jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Nancy?" he guessed.

"She was annoyed with me…us," Violet told him. "And she has every right to be annoyed."

"Yeah, she does," Steve agreed with her on that point. "But, if anything, she should be more annoyed with me than you."

"We've both ruined stuff, Steve," Violet said, not wanting him to take sole responsibility. "This was what I was scared of doing in the first place. I mean, I want to be with you. I just didn't want to hurt Nancy."

"Neither of us did," Steve said, "and maybe Nancy will see that one day, but this has to be better than just faking things. I'm tired of faking it."

"You think she'll come round?" Violet wondered from Steve and he nodded. He wasn't sure if he was giving her false hope. He didn't want to do that, but he did hope that Nancy might come round one day, more for Violet's sake than his. Violet looked to Steve and he nudged her shoulder with his.

"Just give her time," he urged from Violet.

"Yeah," Violet relented. "Maybe we shouldn't, you know, act differently for a little while? I don't want people to talk about us."

"Vi, I jumped into a pool in the middle of a party to save you and almost beat Tommy up for talking shit about you. I think that ship might've sailed," Steve told her and she reached for the sides of his jacket and tugged it tighter around her. "But, if you want to…you know…just be us then we can be. We don't need to act like a couple in public if that's not what you want, but eventually, I want to, okay?"

"And what does that mean?" Violet questioned, looking at him and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Well, driving you to school."

Violet shook her head at him. "I'm a better driver," she told him.

Steve chuckled at that and she smiled at him despite how bad her day had been. "Fine, we'll take it turns," he relented. "But holding hands…going on dates…I'll take you to the cinema…the diner…and maybe even put my arm around you."

"Maybe, huh?" Violet asked from him.

"Well, you know…you've got to be smooth with these things," Steve said and he lifted an arm up high above his head. "You know, pretend to stretch and then, oh look, my arm just happens to land around your shoulders," he said and he did exactly that, hand settling on her upper arm and she rolled her eyes at him.

"So smooth," she said sarcastically. "And this classifies as being a couple?"

"Well, it's a start, you know, let people know that we're together," Steve told her. "I mean, if this was more traditional then I'd have taken you on a few dates before we became official, but I guess we had those in the forest, sneaking around out there."

"They were some cheap dates, Harrington," she commented.

"You have more expensive tastes, do you, Miss Mattheson?" he retorted. "Well, I'll see what I can do to woo you then. I'd have hoped my charm might've been enough."

"Your charm, hmm?"

"You gonna tell me I'm not charming?" he asked, hand going to his chest and clutching it. "You wound me, Vi."

"Nothing can wound your ego," Violet scoffed back at him. "But maybe some of that, yeah, I think I'd like it."

"Only some of it?"

"All of it," she confessed and she looked at him with a soft expression. Steve moved his hand to his chest and ran his hand along her cheek, thumb stroking her cheekbone tenderly. His own lips curled upwards and he let her move her head to his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and closed her eyes. "It's all gonna work out, isn't it, Steve?"

"Yeah," Steve said, knowing he was making a promise he might not be able to keep. "It'll all work out, Vi."