bestfeature | open rp post.

Especially since I'm not interested in trying again. I don't want to end up at the police station a second time.

[ Hell yes, Steve had deserved it. Him and his shitty friends. Though maybe they had deserved it more, thinking back on it. No matter what his relationship with Nancy was like now, back then, it wasn't. And she didn't deserve to be painted with the brush they'd tarred her with. Back then, Steve couldn't and wouldn't have understood. Jonathan wouldn't have chosen him as a confidant, but things had changed... and here they were. ]

You got me pretty good that time too.

Wish I'd gotten Hargrove pretty good.

[ It comes out without thinking, his fingers curling into a fist. Jonathan hadn't deserved any of it, but Billy sure as hell did. The image of him hoisting Lucas off the ground and pressing him up against the wall is still burned in his head.

His jaw clenches briefly before he shakes his head slowly. ]

How's Will doing? Better?

[ He nods at the first; Billy Hargrove was grade A trash as far as Jonathan could tell, and he hopes he never has the misfortune to need to deal with him. But that's a small detail when Will comes into the conversation. He lets out a shaky breath that he didn't realize he was holding, just thinking about his brother. ]

Yeah, better. Still kind of recovering. He's got good friends helping him.

[ Jonathan glances away for a second as he continues. ]

Thanks, you know. For being there for them. Don't know what he'd do without them.

[ He shrugs quietly, looking down at his hands. ]

They're good kids. [ a beat. ] Don't tell them I said that, though. Henderson's got a big enough head already.

[ He says as though he hasn't already driven Dustin, Mike, Lucas, and Max to the arcade twice in the past week. ]

My lips are sealed.

[ He manages another smile. Dustin would get like that.

Since he's getting some stuff off of his chest, he might as well say what else is running through his mind. Thanks for the boys, and thanks for... ]

And... Thanks for...

[ Okay this isn't easy to say, and he wets his lips before he glances over at Steve, not really certain how he's gonna take this. ]

I really appreciate that you made Nancy come with Will and Mom and me.

[ He doesn't look over at him, shrugging quietly instead. ]

Yeah. It's fine, you know? She— it's fine.

[ Is it fine? It had to be fine. The way he and Nancy had been going wasn't healthy, no matter how either of them looked at it. And he saw how she had looked at Jonathan. And hell, if it had to be anyone, at least it was Jonathan. It's fine. He's fine. ]

Sounded like you guys needed the help, anyway.

We did, but... is it though? Fine?

[ It's more than just... that. He's not really looking for Steve's acceptance or permission. But like, it would just be easier to be honest about it. No matter his feelings for Nancy, he still feels bad about it. People don't choose him. They choose people like Steve. ]

I mean, you...

[ He's noticed the way Steve looks at Nancy, too. ]

[ At least it wasn't some asshole like Billy Hargrove or Tommy H. Then again, if it had been, Steve could have poured all of his heartache into ragging on them, getting over Nancy Wheeler in his own way. This, this was different.

He shrugs again. ]

Yeah. It's fine, Byers.

{ He's brushing it off. Okay, well, makes sense, but Jonathan is tempted to take him at his word on this one. He doesn't want to call Steve his friend, exactly, and probably wouldn't to his face, but they've got this whole situation in common. Fought the demogorgon together. Hell, Steve Harrington saved his life that time. It's kinda like that whole shared trauma bullshit that Murray talked about. Weird thinking about it that way, but it's not... untrue or anything, is it?

He wrings his hands together. ]

I just want you to know that... things sort of just happened, okay?

[ There was no ulterior motive or shit like that. ]

[ "No, that was your other boyfriend. Jonathan."

He's not a fool. So when Jonathan says that things "sort of just happened" — he knows. It would hurt more, probably, if their lives weren't insane thanks to the upside-down of it all. But he and Nancy had broken up and coped with the insanity around them differently. For her, it was Jonathan; for him, it was discovering his newfound role as the babysitter of the "party."

It takes him a moment to respond as he processes it quietly, scratching at his cheek. Nancy had tried to say something, hadn't she? But he didn't want her to feel— obligated to him in some way. Hearing it now still stung, but not so much. ]

Don't worry about it. [ a beat. ] Seriously. We're good. Nancy, too.

[ It does hurt, more than he wants to admit, but that's no one's fault, really. He forces a brief half smile as he lowers his hand from his cheek. ]

Yeah.

[ Voice quiet, as always, but there's the sense that he's relieved seeping through. Didn't expect this to come up when he'd run into Steve, but it's better than letting it sit there any longer. He'd apologize for dragging it up but... no. Better not. So instead - ]

Thanks for letting me get some of this off my chest.

Yeah, well.

[ Steve pauses for a long moment before lifting his hands to scrub at his face, wincing slightly at the ache from his fading bruises. He could just leave it there, leave it at that, but— ]

Turns out, you're one of the few people in this shithole that I actually like. Go figure.

[ Funny, how miserable he'd been around "pleasant" people like Tommy H and Carol and his old social circle. But around Nancy and Jonathan? Despite the heartbreak and the beatdowns and the residual awkwardness that lingered, it was . . . better. ]

Seriously?

[ Kind of unexpected, but... yeah. He's cool with that. Makes him feel better about what he's said. How he thinks about Steve. That maybe friends wouldn't be too far off. He can't help but grin, glancing up. ]

Same. Once you stopped being an asshole, anyway.

[ Had he ever actually seen him grin like that before? Probably not, given the situations they'd found themselves in and the stress of it all. He lets out a chuckle in response, shaking his head. ]

Turns out, no one really liked that guy.

[ Least of all him. ]

[ Probably hasn't seen it. Jonathan's usually too closed off, and even if they were friendly, it's not like he's one to just... put himself out there easily. Still his cheek is still tugged into that grin as he glances from Steve out to the parking lot in front of them, looking off into the distance. ]

He could have been worse.

[ The good parts of him were there all along, after all. ]

Okay, don't get sappy on me, Byers.

[ He's only half-joking as he lifts his hands above his head, stretching. ]

It's not sappy!

[ He's still quiet even if he's forceful saying as much. ]

I'm just saying, imagine you were like that even without the shitty friends?

[ Tommy, Carol. Jonathan's pretty sure they were half the reason Steve constantly was a shit back then. Peer pressure, whatever the hell you want to call it. ]

Jesus, no, why would I want to even imagine that? What a miserable guy.

[ He wanted to be cool, he wanted to be liked, be loved, and sure, running with that group had him at the top of the food chain, but god was it lonely. He hadn't even realized it until he'd laid eyes on Nancy Wheeler and stepped out of that clique's shadow for the first time. ]

[ He shrugs, turning back to Steve. ]

So, you could have been worse. That guy would never have come back to do something like apologize. I wouldn't trust that guy with my kid brother, or anyone else's.

[ He actually seems pretty caught off guard by that, to the point where it takes him a moment to respond. ]

I told you not to get sappy.

Sorry to burst your bubble. It's just the truth.

[ The truth that probably makes Jonathan sound pretty uncool, and makes Steve feel less cool too. At least Steve still has the hair going for him? ]

You probably didn't wanna hear it from me, though.

Seriously.

[ Jesus. If anyone had told him a little over a year ago that Jonathan Byers of all people would be talking about him like that — and that he was happy to hear it, honestly — Steve might have just dropped dead then and there. ]

[ The bell starts ringing inside the building and it echoes through the door to their spot outside. Has it been that long? ]

And I just wasted all your time between periods.

[ Saved by the bell — quite literally this time. Steve sucks in a bit of air, grinning as he runs a hand through his hair. ]

Yeah, you did. Way to be selfish there, Byers.

[ But he's not annoyed by it; there's something teasing about his tone, almost. ]

[ That brief, private grin flashes across Jonathan's face again, but he knows he should get to class, so he stands up. ]

Nobody stopped you from leaving.

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